Free Reapers by Kim Richardson Page B

plain features to
stand out. Sasha was a mousy, skinny girl with shoulder-length
straw-colored hair and big dull eyes. Raymond stood on the other
side of Ashley. He was a red-haired brute with a face like a
bloodsucker. And Ling hid in the shadows behind Ashley. Ling always
made Kara uneasy. He reminded her of a leech with his thin face,
black greasy hair, and empty black eyes.
    Their hostility was like a sudden
frost around the vega tanks, and Kara suppressed a
shiver.
    A petite teenage girl around the same
age as Kara, with a pixie cut of purple hair, squealed at the sight
of Kara and rushed over to her.
    “ Wow, you look like a
hologram,” said Jenny.
    A giant smile spread across her sharp,
pointed features. She looked like a typical teenager, except for
her polished purple combat boots and purple bomber-like jacket. She
wore a silver quiver with a bow and a multitude of silver arrows
strapped to her back.
    “ This is so totally weird to look
at you like this. I can see right through you, like I’m staring
through a fog or a cloud. Does it hurt?”
    She moved her fingers delicately
through Kara’s long ponytail. Her large, green eyes stood out
against the black kohl and purple of her eye shadow.
    “ No,” said Kara. “I don’t
feel any different either. I just look different.”
    Jenny jumped into Kara’s arms and
hugged her tightly. “Who cares? I missed ya.”
    Kara relaxed a little and smiled.
“Missed you too, you crazy girl.”
    As Jenny released Kara from her bear
hug, a scrawny teenage boy with glasses, a mousy face, and wearing
a combat uniform two sizes too big extended his hand.
    “ Glad you’re back, Kara,”
smiled Peter. “We could really use your help with this.”
    Kara shook Peter’s hand. Her eyes went
to David. “Yeah, David said something about a situation. What
situation? What have I missed?”
    “ Something the legion
hoped we would never have to face,” said a voice.
    Kara looked over Peter’s
shoulder. A stunning tall woman made her way toward them. Her
mocha-colored skin blended beautifully with her black CDD uniform.
She studied every inch of Kara’s mysterious semi-transparent body,
and Kara felt even more self-conscious. Kara could tell that the
archangel Ariel had never seen a ghost-like guardian before. She
hadn’t expected Kara to look quite like that .
    No one knew what was wrong with her,
and it made her feel worse.
    “ It’s nice to see you
again, Kara,” said archangel Ariel. Kara thought that Ariel looked
tired.
    “ Are you up for a mission?
I could really use your help and skill with our present
situation.”
    There was a sense of urgency to her
voice. “We don’t have enough trained field agents at the moment.
Those who are in training, well, they’re not quite ready just yet,
not for a perilous mission like this one.”
    She hesitated, measuring Kara’s body
again.
    “ Can you work like this?
Do you think you can make another vega leap? I do need you on the
team, but I wouldn’t want to add more…more harm to your affliction, whatever it
is.”
    Despite the strangeness of the
situation, Kara was excited. She smiled.
    “ Raphael seems to think
that I can. But she advised me not to overdo it, just in case. I
feel fine though.”
    It was unusual to be back
so soon. And even more so with another tainted form, but there was
nothing in the world that Kara wanted more than to be a guardian
again. At that moment, she realized that this , being a guardian angel, was
what she was meant to be in this ethereal life. It explained the empty feeling she
had experienced as a mortal. It was what she had tried very
inarticulately to explain to Mr. Patterson. She was meant to be a
guardian angel. She was meant to save lives.
    Kara raised her chin, and
then she added more confidently. “I can do this. I’m ready.”
    “ Good,” said Ariel. “You
don’t have time to change, so those clothes will have to do for now. Not
sure how effective they will be on your mission