Guardian of the Watchtower--Silent City
By Natasha Weber
The Angels were hard at work trying to lift the eternal rainfall caused by human tears. It was night, and one Angel strolled through the streets; he was taking an extended break from lifting sadness from humans. The Angel was called Benjamin, and he was relatively new to the game of curing sadness.
He made his way through the claustrophobic city. Skyscrapers were packed next to supermarkets, clothing outlets, and adult stores.
The rain splashed against the stony ground and Benjamin's boots sloshed through the rain. Even at night, the city was bustling. Benjamin saw a ramen stand with an awning shielding customers from the rain on the strip just a mile away. When he was close enough, he saw a very pretty woman sitting at the stand, crossing her legs. She had dyed her hair blue and was dressed inappropriately for the weather. She was wearing a blue hat and a sheer dress with shorts and a tank top under it.
Once he arrived, he put away his umbrella and sat down on a stool in front of the stand. He ordered, and then he looked to his side.
The woman he saw earlier leaned her cheek upon her hand and blinked slowly. She took a sip of her beer and noticed Benjamin staring at her. "Something you want?"
He said sloppily, "you're really pretty..."
The woman shook her head with a little smile and looked away.
Benjamin looked away and waited for his noodles, embarrassed.
After a moment, the woman turned towards him, "Did you mean that?" She asked plainly.
"Yeah..." He chuckled, breaking the ice.
The woman took a swig of her beer and raised her eyebrows with a knowing smile. "Why?"
Benjamin had no idea. He saw her from afar and she’d drawn his attention. That was all. "You're gorgeous."
The server behind the counter put the carton of ramen in front of him and he ate it while glancing at his new acquaintance.
"You really don't remember who I am, do you, cutie?" The woman asked suddenly.
"Have we met?" Benjamin asked, around a mouthful of noodles.
"Yeah, we've met, baby... We lived inside your head together for a long time." The woman said with a coy smile.
Benjamin laughed a little. "What are you.--?"
But he was silent, then. He remembered this woman, indeed. "Annalissa?"
"That's me..." She rotated and faced him, leaning over. "Don't you remember why you nailed that mask to your face, baby?"
He remembered her, but not everything. He remembered her face and flashes of memory, but he didn't remember living inside his head with her. "I..."
"I've seen you naked--don't you think I'd also be able to see through your mask? I know you're an Angel. Why else would you nail that thing to your face?" Annalissa winked.
The people sitting around them were looking at them. Benjamin was embarrassed. "I'm not an Angel..."
She raised an eyebrow and whispered. "Come on. Who do you think you're talking to?" Benjamin nodded, looking about fearfully. "Fine I am. Just be quiet."
Annalissa took out a lighter and a cigarette and said, "mmhm."
"How do you mean we lived inside my head?" The rain was coming down all the harder and the people around them were leaving.
Annalissa was silent as she smoked her cigarette. She was thinking intently about something. "I gotta go, baby. It's getting cold. Do you wanna come with me?"
Benjamin didn't know. Something told him if he went with her, he would be hurt immeasurably. But she had him. Every movement she had made, every word she had said while they were talking, coaxed him into going with her.
"I'll come with you." He said uncertainly.
They each paid for what they had bought, and then Annalissa climbed down from her stool and took out an umbrella from her bag. Benjamin put his own up.
Annalissa led him around a street corner to her car parked parallel to the sidewalk.
Benjamin got in on the passenger's side, and Annalissa got in on the driver's side.
***
Rain smothered Annalissa's windshield as she drove. She said to Benjamin, "So, what are you doing with yourself these days, cutie?"
"Call me Benjamin... I do what all Angels do."
Annalissa glanced at him, and then back at the road--waiting for a red light to turn green. "Still curing humans of depression to lift the rain, huh?"
Benjamin nodded. "That's right."
Annalissa frowned deeply for a moment before saying, "Are you still working for that Harris Angel?"
"Yeah, he's still a jackass." Benjamin snorted with a smile.
Analissa drove through the light as it turned green and answered, "I'm sorry I almost blew your cover earlier, baby. I forgot that Angels need to keep their identities hidden. When do you have to report to the Watchtower?"
"At midnight--we have time." Benjamin replied.
***
Annalisa took him to a large house out in a gated community. The rain was coming down even harder than usual. Annalissa stepped out of her car and Benjamin followed her. She climbed up on the stairs leading to her front door that was painted pink. Her front yard was big; she owned a lot of land. Benjamin wondered what she did, and then he suddenly remembered she was actually a famous actress.
Annalissa opened the front door and waited for Benjamin to step in first. Benjamin stared blankly. He wanted to go in, but he also didn't.
"You don't want to come in?" Annalissa blinked, surprised. "Don't be shy."
She held out a hand. He took it slowly.
He stepped out of the rain and drank in the extravagant sights of the house. The whole thing had white carpeting with gold trim and was spotless. To his left was the living room, and to his right was the kitchen, and in front of him were stairs leading to the second floor. There was not a piece of furniture in the house that wasn't arranged to perfection and didn't go with the rich, white and gold theme of the house.
Annalissa tossed her purse to the side and then took Benjamin's trench coat off and hung it up on the coat hanger next to the door.
"Go sit down in the living room. I'll grab you something to drink." Annalissa padded into the kitchen and Benjamin walked into the spacious living room and looked about. He spun around and looked at the whole room. There were plenty of incredible, painted portraits of Annalissa up on the wall; but there were also, strangely, many pictures of movie stars hung up. Most surprisingly of all; there was a big, black and white picture of Benjamin up on the wall above her flat screen TV.
Annalissa strolled into the living room with two wine glasses in her hands. She saw Benjamin staring at the picture of him hanging on the wall. She handed him a wine glass.
"It's just table wine, but you never minded..." Annalissa said.
"What the hell is this?" Benjamin asked, pointing at the picture.
"It's you, obviously..." Annalissa replied.
"Tell me what's going on here?" Benjamin demanded, planting his hands on his hips. "You said you lived in my head? Are you crazy?"
"No, cutie. I mean... I was your therapist. I get numbers mixed up sometimes. Hey, come here, sit with me..." Annalissa sat on the couch in front of the flat screen and Benjamin sat next to her.
Annalissa took a sip of her wine and said, "You came to me some time ago saying you were having issues on your mission to cure humanity of sadness and lift this eternal rain. You said you had lost the passion... I treated you for sixteen weeks, and then I tore up my license for you."
Benjamin raised an eyebrow. "What...?"
"I fell in love with you. You were pretty flirtatious, though. Not saying you didn't tempt me. I always had this dream of being an actress, so I did that instead. More money in it, but less stimulating." Annalissa shrugged.
"Why don't I remember this?" Benjamin demanded, standing up.
"Baby, you told me your Angel friends can wipe your memory whenever they want. You wandered off one night and you didn't come back. I think your friends abducted you." Annalissa explained.
"Then why... Why didn't you come to find me?" Benjamin shook his head confusedly.
"You were nowhere to be found. Maybe you should examine your friends' halos... God I missed you..." Annalissa was frowning. "I thought I'd never see you again. I'll answer any of your questions. Sit back down..."
Annalissa grabbed his wrist and pulled him down next to her. She looked into his eyes that were hidden by the mask. "I wish you hadn't nailed that thing to your face, though... That other reality really scared you, huh?"
Benjamin had no idea what was going on. He felt like he had walked into a horror film. But this woman must have known him--how else would she know the things she knew. "You haven't... told anyone, have you?"
Annalissa shook her head. "I'd never tell anyone that you're an Angel."
"Then--why would I come to you for help?” Benjamin asked.
"I told you. Because the amount of rain you were lifting from the world was pitiful. You were afraid you were making no progress." Annalissa explained.
"And you believed me? Humans would never believe me..." Benjamin was doubtful.
Annalissa shook her head. "Of course not. Not at first, but... when you got done explaining it, it just seemed to make sense."
"How sad did I seem?" Benjamin wondered.
Annalissa crossed her arms and looked away. "Miserable. But the truth is, you were sent to me by a doctor. You kept complaining of this thudding pain behind your eyes, but there was no medical explanation. We all thought it was psychological. When you told me you were an Angel; you made it known it was really painful to grow new eyes like Angels do. Later on, you told me iron was the only way to stop new eyes from growing. It's partly why you nailed the mask to your face."
That made a little more sense. Being in extreme physical pain would have made him try anything to relieve it.
Benjamin was in shock, however. He had learned many startling things in just a few minutes. He stood up, his back facing her, and said, "I gotta go."
Annalissa frowned. "Don't go... I gave up everything for you."
Benjamin turned around. She was crying. Her makeup was running, and she was hugging her stomach for comfort.
She was incredibly alluring. That was what he remembered about her.
It was hot and summery, despite the constant downpour of rain. She was wearing shorts. She crossed her long, bare, legs while leaning forward and asked, "How long have you been feeling this way?"
He was staring at her legs, and when she noticed, he quickly looked at her eyes instead. "Weeks."
She never wore shorts in their sessions after that.
He didn't know whether she was deliberately trying to attract him or not, but every move she made hooked him. He leaned over and looked her right in the eyes. "Don't cry, baby..."
He kissed her.
***
Benjamin fell asleep in her arms and woke up to look at his watch. It was almost midnight. He quickly put his clothes back on and headed out the door. He was almost late for his meeting.
The Watchtower was a little ways away. Benjamin called a cab and asked the driver to take him to the edge of the city; that's where the Watchtower was. At the edge of the city by the ocean.
The cab driver dropped him off there and Benjamin headed inside. The inside was full of Angels, sitting on the upper level of the watchtower. They were all Guardians of the Watchtower, bidden by a higher purpose to look after humanity.
The leader of them was called Harris, and he was the only one at the bottom of the watchtower. He glared at Benjamin. "Late again? Sleeping with some slut?"
Benjamin made a face. Harris seemed to know everything about all of them. It was creepy. "Whatever you say."
"Benjamin, if I see you doing that again, I won't let you be an Angel any longer. You know it isn't allowed." Harris said.
Benjamin gulped and frowned. The Angels all had this obsession with purity. You were allowed three strikes and then you were out. Benjamin had already used up two of his.
Benjamin headed up the stairs of the Watchtower and sat on the upper level with the other Angels.
Once all the Angels were settled, Harris said loud and clear for everyone to hear, "it's been a pretty bad year. We've only lifted an inch of rain. You all need to be working harder..."
Benjamin listened in and out. It was mostly the same monthly speech he always gave, but far more serious and threatening sounding. Benjamin sighed. He knew he had to step up his game. He had only helped one person feel more happy this year.
After his spiel, Harris would call each of them down individually and give them a status report on how they were doing. He would give glowing reports to all the other Angels, but with Benjamin he would be overly harsh. Today was no exception.
"What the hell have you been doing, Benjamin? You've only helped one person? Get your head out of the clouds and help us lift this infernal rain! If you don't help three more people by next month, you'll be in trouble! I'll be checking on you daily. Come back tomorrow at the same time."
Benjamin frowned. Truth be told, he was going through a hard time in his life. He couldn't find the passion to want to help humans.
Benjamin walked outside of the Watchtower and put up his umbrella again. Like the other Angels, he had no money, and therefore, nowhere to stay. He found a bench under a tree and fell asleep.
***
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