Chapter 25: In darkness and in fear

Linda held her son close. No one in the homeless shelter thought much of her. She was just Linda to them. The woman who had come in here dirty and with a small baby in her arms. The same Linda that tried to find work in town as hard as she could.

She smiled bitterly at that. What she found was odd jobs here and there. Chores, mostly. People pitied her son, so they gave her things. She was too fidgety and didn't want to show her ID to anyone. That was stopping her from landing a job, she knew. That, and the constant screaming in her head.

The screaming had begun when Damien had been born, but she didn't blame her little angel. He was the only one who loved her and didn't judge her. More than that, he was the reason why she hadn't jumped off a bridge to get some silence.

There was another round of screaming in her head, and she began to hug her son tighter. The warm bottle with milk forgotten by her side. She looked around wildly, and waited for the screaming to lessen. Then, it happened all at once.

Three men came into the cafeteria, and the screaming stopped. The hateful words that didn't let her sleep at night quieted, as if whoever was speaking them constantly in her mind was afraid.

The blonde man of the group came straight at her, and sat at her table.

"Hello? Linda, right?" He asked, and Linda nodded. This could be a potential employer. She couldn't screw it up.

"I can cook, clean, and am good with numbers and children. I studied to work as an accountant," Linda gave her sales pitch, as she always did. Her eyes wide and hopeful.

"Linda, your family misses you," the blonde said, and she felt fear grip her.

"Did Frank send you? You tell him he won't separate me from my son ever again!" She shouted and stood. A couple of heads turned their way, and she saw the pity in their eyes. Everyone at the shelter knew that there was something not right with her.

"Please sit down," the blonde told her in a calm voice. She sat, and she noticed that the red head of the group was eyeing Damien. She hugged her son tighter, to shield him. He started to cry.

"No, no. Don't cry. Mommy is going to..." the promise stuck in her throat. She couldn't buy anything to Damien. As things stood, she could barely feed him. She let out a sob. The hand of the blonde found her shoulder. He gave her a little squeeze.

"You are going to be fine, and you will be the one to raise your son," the man promised, and he smiled down at her. "Be healthy."

At once, the shaking that had accompanied her since her son's birth stopped. She was still for the first time in a year. The presence she felt at the back of her head constantly was no longer there. She blinked at the blonde.

"What are you?" She whispered, her sense returning to her after a long time of it being gone.

"A friend," the man said, and then offered his hand. "You can't take care of Damien in here. Let us get you home."

Linda didn't know much, but she knew that the blonde didn't have a single evil bone in his body. She took his hand, and watched as the red head picked up Damien's bag from the table. They walked out of the shelter, and then went into an alley.

The sight she saw was something she would never forget. Wings sprouted out of the back of the blonde. They were bluish and looked soft. The scent of ripe apples spread in the air. The blond hugged her then, and whispered.

"Be blessed," at once, Linda felt light as a feather. Like she was waking up from a deep slumber. She hugged the angel, for what else could he be, tight.

"You be blessed and healthy as well," the angel told Damien, and kissed the baby's brow. Linda could see from the corner of her eye the smile on the black-haired man's face. He looked like he was witnessing a miracle. For all that Linda knew, he might be.

"Let us get you home. Harry, if you would?" The angel asked, and the red head came forward.

"Ok, each one of you grab onto me," the man, Harry, took a hold of both her and Damien. The other two took a hold of him. When Linda blinked, she was home.

She could cry then. Why had she left? She had been sick, sick people needed to heal. The asylum had been necessary. The voices had even stopped when the injections had been applied.

She ran to the door, and remembered at the last second that she had thrown her key down a sewer grate. A way to burn her bridges, so to speak. Linda knocked on the door, and Frank answered.

He swept her up in a hug, crying and laughing. Linda looked back, and saw that the three men were coming over.

"We will make sure you get your treatment at home, just don't run away again," Frank whispered, and Linda kissed him then. It was a desperate kiss. One to convey how sorry she was.

"I will see the doctor and even go back to the asylum. Just promise to visit, ok?" Linda asked, and Frank looked into her eyes.

"You...the mist in your eyes is gone," Frank whispered, and Linda looked back at the blonde. The desire to tell Frank that they were in the presence of an angel was great, but she kept her mouth shut. Bad things could happen to her guardian angel, if she spread the word.

"They talked me into coming back," Linda nodded to the three men.

Frank turned to them, and released his wife from his embrace. He went to Arthur, and shook his hand vigorously. Thinking him the leader of the group.

"I can't thank you enough. The reward will be in your bank account by noon tomorrow. You just need to give me your details," Frank told him.

"We didn't do it for money," Arthur said. "Just take care of them, ok? Something tells me that the worst is behind them."

Frank hoped that the man was right. He went back to his wife, and took her inside. Agatha came rushing to her daughter as soon as she heard her voice. The nightmare of the Adams family was behind them, only one of its members knew that, though.