Chapter Seventeen
Saying her Uncle Josh's house was huge was an understatement. They left the forest and entered a large, secluded hideaway, encased within the trees. Angels definitely loved their privacy.
The mansion towered over her, consisting of three levels, made out of red brick, with six tall, white columns connected to the overlay of the roof. Massive windows sparkled against the sunlight and the front door made of dark, mahogany wood.
The bricks with which it had been constructed were the calcium silicate type, common to the area, given the abundance of the natural resources necessary for their production. The windows were in a mock Gothic style, and appeared to have been inspired by the work of Pugin. The roof was in the mansard style, and made of slate tiles; it provided an elegant and understated summation to the edifice, giving an impression of class and good taste.
The house was laced with neatly trimmed hedges and flowers, which surrounded the porch. The yard was huge; with soft willow trees swaying in the breeze close to the walkway that led in different directions. One led toward the house, another veered off to the woods, the third went around to the back of the house.
Her uncle stood on the porch with outstretched arms. She was so happy to see him; it had been awhile. She ran into his embrace and hugged him with everything she had. She didn't realize how much she missed him until that moment.
When she thought about it, he had been training her all her life. She learned pretty much everything she knew about defending herself from him.
Her parents treated her like a porcelain doll, but she and her uncle had their own little secret. Whenever he visited, they would sneak away and he would teach her everything he knew.
She always thought that was their fun time, just something to do that was out of the norm, but he knew. He had to have known all along that even though her powers were blocked, she would eventually come around.
“Unc, I've missed you. How ya been?”
He pulled back from the hug and smiled, “Better now babygirl. I'm better now.”
Brenton and her uncle shook hands. Apparently they knew each other from some years ago. Brenton passed through here on his way to visit friends in Houston. He thought it was funny, that while he was searching for Marie, he was staying at the place which belonged to one of the people closest to her and didn't know it. Her uncle never said a word about who he was.
His place was somewhat of a safe house. Angels who came through knew they could stop and hang out whenever they wanted. It was also a training ground. He took in the kids who didn't have anywhere to go and helped them any way he could.
Marie wondered why she could never come visit. Her mom always came up with an excuse when she would ask. Up until five years ago, her uncle came around all the time. Then the visits became less frequent until they stopped altogether. Now, she understood why.
“Let's get inside. There's so much to discuss,” he said guiding her into the house.
When she walked in, her eyes lit up. The outside of the house was very misleading. She would have thought there were butlers inside and some chandeliers; maybe a couple of famous paintings, but it looked more like a warehouse that had been converted into a boot camp. There were angels everywhere. The house was a monument to angel training.
“Wow, Uncle Josh, what's all this?” she said.
“Welcome to our training facility,” he said patting her on the back. “We built the inside from the ground up.”
“We?”
“Yeah, most of these guys are very good with their hands. DeShon over there,” he pointed to a tall, dark-skinned guy who had creepy, gray eyes and muscles on top of muscles, “he is our resident architect. He designed the whole layout. Then we gutted the house and started from scratch.”
They walked further in and Brenton made himself at home. He knew most of the people there. He went around bumping fists and hugging everyone and left Marie to talk with her uncle.
The whole house was a wide open space between the first and second floors. Curved stairs were on both sides of the room, leading up to an indoor balcony. From what she could see, the second-floor housed exercise equipment.
On the first floor, to the left of her, was a large tumbling mat with two guys wrestling on it. A couple of other people stood around watching and cheering. Behind the mat, on the wall, was an eighty inch flatscreen. The news was playing in the background.
To the right was a shelved wall made to hold weapons. There were some she recognized, like swords, nunchucks and even guns. One of the weapons looked like it came straight out of a medieval movie. Most of the other weapons she had never seen before.
There were devices all over the place that were obviously used for the promotion and development of the angels' abilities and skills, more than she could even count at first glance.
It surprised her, that with them being angels, they would even need them, but this was a whole new world for her. She had to accept what came along with it.
They wandered to the back of the house and she stood in front of a bookcase that reached the full length of the wall, and covered the two back walls. A large sliding, glass door leading to the yard was in the middle of the arrangement of literature.
She ran her fingers across the spine of the books and instantly the floating words appeared before her eyes. She still couldn't understand the language, but at least she knew why it was happening. Hopefully, soon, she would be able to decipher the meaning.
She moved her hand back and turned to head outside. Before she opened the door, she stopped to watch as one of the girls made water turn into ice with her bare hands. The ice formed a sword as long as her arm. The sword glistened as she twirled it around in different fighting poses. She was so confident yet graceful. She was shorter than the rest of them, but Marie somehow knew that wasn't a problem for her.
The girl glared at her under long eyelashes with dark brown eyes, Marie started to feel cold all over. Her uncle shook his head at her and the frost went away.
The girl with the tiny frame and short, light brown hair turned and walked away with the sword still suspended in midair. She snapped her fingers and instantly it turned back into water and splashed on the floor.
“That there is Marchell. She's been here the longest. Her adoptive parents were killed in a car accident and she was on her own for a while, since she was thirteen I believe. She came to me over a year ago and stayed ever since. She has a strong will and determination. I really didn't have to teach her much. She learned what she knows on her own.”
They finally made their way outside. The backyard was nothing but a concrete slab, the size of a parking lot. More willow trees lined the perimeter of the backyard.
Her uncle stood with his arms folded with a smile on his face. She looked around waiting for something to happen. By the way he was watching her, she expected something big.
“What's back here?” she asked.
He laughed. “You might want to step back,” he said, pushing a button on a device he pulled out of his pocket.
She moved back, searching the area and right then, before her eyes, a block of the slab lifted up and slid back, revealing a set of steps that descended down in the earth.
Marie's eyes were wide and it was obviously the reaction he was waiting for.
“After you,” he said, waving his hand in front of the entrance to the steps.
She moved slowly down the stairs; the space was long and narrow. The walls were smooth, cold metal with cylinder lamps attached to them. They continued on for another minute until they were in front of a large, gray door. He punched some numbers into the keypad and she heard the door unlock.
He pushed it open and guided her into an underground fortress underneath his house. The place stood at least twenty five to thirty feet tall and spread out in front of her a couple of miles long and the same length wide.
“What is this place?” she asked walking further in.
“Our cozy little bunker,” he grinned.
“Apparently you don't know the meaning of little.”
They both laughed and walked toward the center of the place.
“DeShon thought of it and we built it. This is the only place we can be ourselves, sharpen our powers without being seen by the outside world. No one needs to know what we are; they would turn it into a spectacle. This way, anyone stumbling along in our woods will see an ordinary house and nothing more,” he explained. “Now, every mentor who takes in angels has one.”
“Makes sense,” she said, nodding.
“I had to limit them to only using their powers here and normal training in the house.”
“So, why was Marchell doing tricks in the open?”
He shrugged. “Showing off for the new guest, I would assume,” he said.
Marie rolled her eyes and continued to follow her uncle. She didn't have time for the petty, adolescent drama. She didn't partake in it at school and she wouldn't here. Though, she had to admit, it made her feel like she was back at home. The feeling was nice. She was sure those small things would help her adjust.
She dispelled those thoughts to take in DeShon and her uncle's handiwork. They both had a whole other gift to be able to build this from scratch.
The walls, ceiling and floor was solid concrete. There were scorch marks and gashes all over the place. Marie couldn't imagine what happened, but it had to be a serious brawl to do that type of damage.
The same cylinder lamps were aligned on the walls, about ten feet apart from each other. Some of the lights had been busted; a couple of them dangled from their base.
In the center was a karate mat, with four wing chun dummies lined in a row, which were badly beaten. A tall, slender girl was working her way through all four. Every strike was fast, controlled and done with precision. Marie was impressed and anxious to learn the same techniques.
“So, are you a mentor to all these angels?” Marie asked.
“No, but I do take on that role some times. Every angel has a mentor, someone who was destined to guide them, but some of these angels are runaways or orphaned, they don't know who their parents are, let alone who their mentor is.”
Marie was beaming with appreciation. Her uncle had such a huge heart. He was on the top of the list as one of her heroes. He had no regard to his wants or needs, but took on the role of a father figure to these kids who needed one. It was inspiring.
They followed the worn path, outlined with carpet, and went further in. There was a boxing ring next to another wall of weapons. They were fully prepared for any attack.
They came to an area that was sectioned off, divided by large columns. The concrete ended and dirt began. The rest of the underground sanctuary was nothing but greenery. The next mile ahead of them consisted of grass, trees, and even a small pond.
“How did you get this down here?” she asked.
“We just took the dirt that was already here and planted some trees. The pond is man-made and there's a makeshift irrigation system that keeps this all fresh. We constructed it to recirculate, which allows the same amount of water to be used again and again. The atrium lighting up here,” he said pointing to the corner of the ceiling. “is powered by solar energy and acts as our sun.”
“Unc, you are absolutely amazing.”
“It's not just me. It's all of us. We work together on everything we do.”
She was excited about starting her training. This was so different from her old life, and even further from the norm. This was exactly where she needed to be.
They continued to walk the perimeter, making their way around, showing her every inch of the facility, while he told her stories.