Free Angel Evolution by David Estes Page B

realistically be a real live angel. Could he?
    “All we did was hold hands, Sam,” Taylor said, trying to think.
    “Hey, I’m not judging, Tay. But even holding hands with him is quite an accomplishment.” A flash of skepticism crossed her face, “Are you sure you didn’t kiss him? Not even a little peck?”
    “I’m sure.”
    “Hmmm. I’m not sure I believe you, but even if it didn’t happen on the first date, I am sure it will happen tonight, on the second date.”
    Taylor started to object, but then realized what Samantha had said. “What do you mean the second date?”
    “Oh, did I forget to tell you? Gabriel wanted me to give you a message when he dropped you off. He said, ‘Same place at eight o’clock tonight.’ He also said that he promised to have you home much earlier so you can get plenty of sleep for class tomorrow.” Sam’s face formed a devilish grin. “Do you think you’ll kiss him tonight then?”
    “No…I mean, I don’t know. He’s cool, I guess. It’s just nice talking to him. He’s interesting, different than other guys our age. I thought he was just a testosterone-filled pretty-boy, but now I’ve realized that he’s more than that.”
    Taylor was forced to spend another half hour answering Sam’s probing questions about what they did, what they talked about, how beautiful Gabriel looked from different angles, and on and on. Taylor lied easily, giving her the usual crap about family, friends, college majors, and favorite movies. For the first time in her life, Taylor had a secret that not even Sam knew about. She felt bad about it.
    Eventually Taylor ended the potentially endless interrogation by begging for a hot shower and some food. Sam grudgingly allowed her to partake in the simple necessities of life, and after she was clean and full, Taylor opened her laptop and connected to the internet.
    First, she did a simple Google search for angels . At the top of the search results page, she clicked a link. A new page appeared:
     
    “ Angels are messengers of God in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. The term ‘angel’ has also been expanded to various notions of ‘spiritual beings’ found in many other religious traditions. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks.”
     
    The description was consistent with the little that she had learned about angels at church, although now she was wishing she had listened more. She read it again. “…protecting and guiding human beings… ” She thought about this particular line. From what Gabriel had told her, he was trying to protect her. And she was a human being. He had not mentioned God even once though and his story about the creation of angels and demons didn’t really have any spiritual aspect.
    Also, the fact that these strange Beings were, according to Gabriel, created rather recently, within the last two centuries, made her certain that they had nothing to do with the ancient stories of angels and demons, God and Satan, or saints and sinners.
    Taylor did another search, this time for demons , and pulled up another page:
     
    “ In religion and mythology, occultism and folklore, a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as an evil spirit; however, the original neutral connotation of the Greek word daimon does not carry the negative one that was later projected onto it. A demon is considered a spiritual entity that may be conjured and controlled. Many of the demons in literature were once fallen angels, however there are many that say that they are born from Hell itself.”
     
    The last sentence made Taylor shudder, as if a cold breeze had passed through the room. Born from Hell itself . That didn’t sound good. But the middle part said that the word demon wasn’t always necessarily negative.
    She thought back again to her dream and the demon that had poured sand down her throat. She shuddered again. Gabriel had said she “was in no