The Job

Michael snapped his fingers at me to bring me back to reality. I had been sitting there lost in thought about my last encounter with King Lou, the ruler of Oblivion, or Hell as humans would call it. I had earned my self a vacation that lasted a whopping 24 hours before Michael had called to tell me I had another job.

Now, here I sat at our usual place, the coffee shop called Corner of Bliss, as Michael sat across from me.

Meeting here for about the last 20 years made us regulars I suppose. It'd become the point of job delivery. It wasn't far from my home, and the location was prime also for hearing tad bits of gossip from the smokers and sippers that monopolized the free Wi-Fi with a coffee.

"Thinking I could enjoy a nice vacation, but not one day after the last job, here I am again Michael. When is the Almighty going to let me breathe for more than 24 hours?" I needed to whine a bit, I would get used to having time off from being the bodyguard for the scaly and furry, then surprise, I get a call from Michael saying a new job has come in.

"Look Ayda, I'm just here to deliver the message. It's not my type of fun and games, you should know that." Michael cracked an innocent grin that hid the truth.

He wasn't my supervisor, but more a messenger between the Almighty and myself, so here I was again, squaring off with him verbally, like many other occasions, when the Almighty sent his orders. His smooth to sharp features, deep eyes with white bleached waves perched on top of his head looked like the basic pretty boy pop idol. Forget the chiseled bodies that are portrayed in bringing you that rough manliness. Michael was lean, tall, and all smoothness of rolling snowy covered meadows. He was the first Angel I had met and taught me the basics of what an Others aura felt like, what most of them were. I forgot most of the information then and have been learning the hard way since.

"The mark refuses to join the West city juncture of werewolves. He's denied it too many times, and finally, someone put a big hit on him, or at least that's the word on the street. Not sure it's the truth, but the Almighty has a reason Cash needs to stay breathing. " Michael stated the assignment to me, as always, in a very bored tone this time.

"I refuse." I tried whispering, playing on that femininity of innocence. It failed, however, because I couldn't stop glaring at Michael's pointy nose.

"You can't. You know it. Get over it." Short and to the point, as usual.

"Michael, there is no Other more annoying, cocky, and absolute pain in the butt on His holy earth than those damn things." That was a lie, but I was trying to get out of it.

Just like many Others having 'particulars,' if you can look past a werewolf's one-night-a-month furry episode, they are pretty average. It wasn't the violence or control I was hung up on. It was for their ironclad pride and cockiness.

Even though this would be the first werewolf I'd be guarding, I still knew enough for it to leave a bad feeling. I may be a puny, revived human, but the Almighty nicely graced me with some exciting perks. He had a twisted sense of humor when 'creating' beings.

"And if I still refuse?" Sounding flat and stern, stomping my feet as I tried sitting forward, the result caused the chatter of the small chipped, fancy coffee cup on a saucer at our table. The sound gathered a few looks from several humans and Others sitting around us. I could feel the stares, but one glance from Michael, and they went back to sipping and eating.

"Try to, Ayda. I dare you. You'll end back up on Mt. Juniper with the Dryads. Staring at trees and being bullied by the Dryads overpopulating it. I dare you, though; I loved hearing you beg for forgiveness." Saying that with a sly smile, I knew Michael was right. I had no service there, so I could only yell to the skies, begging him to get me out of there.

"The mark will make his way here shortly, and you won't have much time, little bird, so I suggest you quit your pity party early, down that sludge you claim is coffee, and get ready. This one will be a little tricky." Tricky rolled off his tongue in such a way that it caused a cascade of shivers down my spine.

"Tricky, oh fantastic, I needed something to upend my boring life" The sarcasm I laid on in response failed.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. Michael would instead wipe the entire race of others and sip a cold cocktail, then deal with anything. He won't elaborate either, and it's not his style to get caught in too deep with the ways and workings of upstairs.

"I wonder why a wolf wouldn't want the safety of a pack, and he gets to live comfortably and bump fuzzies with whatever female he wants." I mused out loud, glancing out the yellow-stained window. He looked at me and chuckled.

"Well, that is, if he's strong enough. I think there is more to it, but alas, I am just the messenger." Michael had a point on both accounts. I wasn't overly confident in my knowledge of the inner workings of Pack Others, but I knew some basics. Strength and pride are handled delicately among most things, and the thought of that made this even worse.

No matter how much I whined, I wasn't getting out of this. I sat there thinking and sipping my sludge. Sometimes the realization I needed to grow up and overcome it slapped me.

"Be careful on this, Ayda. I'm serious. I won't be around to snatch your little rear from the Devil's mouth this time. It's my tour season." He ended with a wide grin. How convenient for a pop idol to come and go as he pleases.

"Snatched, humph, more like dragged by my hair and fingernails." Mumbling this, I remembered the last run-in I had with him. The Devil is no joke. He finds himself hilarious, but if you want to compare scariness, Michael is a bunny compared to him.

My thoughts of meeting King Lou for the first time and Michael playing intervention counselor ended up on repeat in my head for a moment before I was interrupted by his voice slithering in and announcing, "Almost time, little bird." I hated when Michael called me that.