Natural Born Angel (Immortal City 2)

“Sure,” Maddy said uncertainly.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Susan said, laughing. “Don’t worry, it won’t bite.”

She walked over to the small control area and began typing in some keystrokes.

“Stepping it up to full speed,” Susan’s disembodied voice came over the intercom.

Maddy felt the slightest bit light-headed, but otherwise nothing seemed to change. The screens surrounding her remained blank.

“I’m going to stop talking for a while,” Susan’s voice said through the intercom. “What I want you to do is quiet your mind. And then start listening with it. I know this may sound strange, or difficult. But just start to listen. We don’t expect anything amazing this first time around; it’s enough just to understand that there are always frequencies out there to listen to, even if they are jumbled. Take as much time as you need.”

“OK, Profes – I mean, Susan. I’ll try to do my best,” Maddy said. Closing her eyes, Maddy tried to focus. All kinds of thoughts began rushing through her mind: what Louis Kreuz had said to her, how Uncle Kevin was handling her being gone, what the other Guardians in training thought about her, how she might need to get her own car, whether she’d swapped the washing from the washing machine to the drier. Maddy had never even really realized what her own mind was constantly churning over. It seemed to be amplified by the frequency modulator.

After what seemed to her like an eternity, her thoughts began to calm down, until there was a kind of clearing in her own mind. Taking a breath, she tried to begin to listen with her mind. To her astonishment, Maddy began to hear and feel things outside herself. At first they were far off. Then they became closer. They were a disordered tangle of voices, images, senses. Maddy could almost feel them, taste them herself, if only for the briefest moment. This was the static. She had felt this before, but never on command. Only at strange moments, seemingly by chance. And not this strong, either, except for the few times she’d had an actual vision, like last year when she foresaw her own death outside the high school party just before Jackson had saved her.

“Opening the frequencies,” Susan said.

Suddenly, one by one, the screens began flickering to life: this one showing a man in a meeting with a boss, this one a woman buying roses at the florist, this one a teenager sitting in traffic on Angel Boulevard. As each of them hit Maddy, her mind was overtaken for a moment, and she felt like she was there. Until the next frequency came upon her. Soon the TVs all around were coming to life, as Susan opened more and more frequencies into the modulator for Maddy to deal with. The voices and noises in the frequencing room became loud, unruly, cacophonous.

Maddy remembered what Susan had told her about isolating and identifying frequencies. With total concentration, Maddy tried to unravel the chaotic images in her mind, one at a time. If she focused extremely hard, she could isolate one, but then it would be gone. Slowly she was able to grab on to one and start to keep it there. The energy she suddenly felt was tremendous.

“That’s enough for today. We’ll try isolating specific Protections next time.”

But a puzzled look flashed across Susan’s face as she saw that more and more TVs were coming to life, and the entire room was now filled. Maddy was drawing more frequencies even though Susan had stopped adding them to the modulator.

Maddy’s eyes closed. The chaos of voices and images in her brain was incredible. Without even thinking about it, her brain started sorting each frequency strand and filing it away as its own. At long last, Maddy had just one main strand left.

And it was Susan’s.

As soon as she locked in on the frequency, it was as if the world switched from black and white to colour as she was able to see Susan with perfect clarity. Maddy’s own perspective shifted entirely. Suddenly Maddy saw Susan frantically running up the platform to Maddy, who was collapsed, unconscious on the steel deck. It was all as clear as day.

The experience was overwhelming. Maddy felt as if she had suddenly been ripped out of her own body. Adrenaline and almost feverish excitement flooded her body.

“I see you! I see you!” she shouted.

“What? That’s impossible!” Susan’s voice was loud and insistent, but it seemed a million miles away. “Maddy, be careful. You’re not ready!”

“I see you!” Maddy shouted again, swept away by this incredible feeling of the moment. Suddenly she felt extremely light-headed. The edges on her vision of Susan darkened rapidly to black. Her entire sense of balance and presence had disappeared. Almost as if in slow motion, Maddy felt herself crumpling sideways, her body unable to follow her simple commands.

With a sickening thud, her body struck the smooth metal platform. Instantly all the TVs went black.

Susan, in a panic, ran towards the platform – just as Maddy had seen in her brief vision. Her face paled as she saw Maddy crumpled and unconscious. She leaned down over Maddy, who slowly came back to consciousness.

Blinking her eyes, she lo

oked at Susan.

“Maddy, are you all right?” the Angel asked.

Maddy nodded slowly, sitting up. She rubbed her elbow where she’d fallen on to the hard metal.

The instructor shook her head. “It’s amazing, Maddy. I thought it would take weeks for us to get to this point. And here you did it in minutes.” Susan led Maddy off the frequency modulator. “I think that’s enough for today, don’t you?”

Maddy touched her side, wincing a bit. “Yeah, maybe that’s a good idea.” She laughed. “Only I could hurt myself just standing. I thought the dangerous part would be once I get my wings and start flying.”

A strange expression passed across Susan’s face, and she looked away, examining a computer monitor. “Oh?”

“What is it, Susan?” Maddy asked nervously.