Roc and Roll Angel

Notes from the author

Sorry for the long delay. But good news! I am using a volunteer editor named CreativityTakesCourage. Yeah, I know, about time right? Thank you Creativity for the excellent help on putting a polish on my story. I am sure that the readers will appreciate your hard work.

Dr. Sybil Tobita, uninitiated Nonseeth, San Francisco, California, United states of America, Planet Earth, uncharted wormhole destination of the Joorcush, locally called the Milky Way Galaxy.

**Current time**

It was a little after three in the morning and Dr. Sybil Tobita, head of Neurology Studies at the San Francisco Research Foundation, sat at a bus stop in the San Francisco business district.

"Ethan Grant has angel wings," she said to herself.

Crazy but true. One would think that encountering a man with real angel wings would be the most fantastic thing that could happen to a woman in a day. Not for Dr. Tobita. On this, the strangest day of her life, Ethan's wings ranked third, maybe even forth, on the amazing scale.

Earlier in the night, going against all codes of professional doctor-patient decorum, Dr. Tobita had met with Ethan Grant at his room at the Braddock Hotel. In her defense, she'd gone to the hotel, NOT to see Ethan Grant, but to meet with Ethan's cousin, Ashley Grant, and her fiancé, Sarah Logan. Freshly divorced and sexually floundering, Sybil was in a midlife crisis. Ashley and Sarah were openly lesbian and seemed happy. Sarah had invited Sybil to come visit. To her disappointment, though, Ashley and Sarah were out when she found the courage to show up. Next Sybil knew, she was spilling to Ethan her entire failed, closeted sexual life. She blamed Ethan's wings for her indiscretion. Somehow his wings stimulated people's sexual nature; creating an irresistible euphoric inhibition.

Ethan dragged Sybil to a swanky club where he encouraged her to pick up a girl. She settled on a beautiful young blond named Norma with more than a passing resemblance to actress Kirsten Bell. Norma and her quirky friend Veronica who, according to Ethan, looked like an actress named Misty Mundea, whoever that was, agreed to take the party back to Ethan's hotel room. In the hotel room, while making love to Norma, Sybil slipped into some sort of hallucinatory state brought on by Ethan's wings.

"You tripped in time, girl," Sybil said to herself sternly. As much as she wanted to live in blissful denial, it was true. Sybil fished from her pocket the card given to her by Maggie Edo, a lover from her past. Scrawled on the back in scratchy handwriting was, 'Return my dress; it's a favorite. Reflexively, she smoothed out the skirt of the nice black and white dress.

"All I have to do is get up and step through those doors."

Across the street from the bus stop was the entrance to the Church Of Clara, San Francisco House. It surprised her the church was located in the heart of the business district. For some reason, she expected it to be in the Tenderloin or some such place, not in this modern expensive high-rise. Maggie Edo was the head of the Church, everyone called her Reverend Mother.

"Maggie will explain all of this," Sybil muttered quietly, but she just sat. Right now she felt out of control and wholly manipulated. "I'm expected to show up here and talk to Maggie." Sybil cringed; now she was talking to herself like one of those homeless people that she went out of her way not to make eye contact with.

The traffic slowed then stopped at the light at the corner. Among the waiting cars was a SFPD squad car. The cop car triggered an idea.

**One hour later**

"Dr. Tobita?" Police officer Rosmarita Lordez asked.

"Yes," Sybil answered and stood up from her seat in the waiting area of the SFPD station; not far from the Greyhound Bus Terminal. Sybil had met the officer once before in her weird time trip with Ethan. Maggie called the time tripping kiskit. Officer Lordez had no knowledge of the encounter. The woman looked sharp and professional in her black uniform, not very tall at five-six, but that still put her a couple of inches over Sybil. Lordez was on the muscular side of fit, the word athletic described her well. She had a pleasing, friendly face free of makeup.

"What can I do for you, Doctor?" Lordez asked in a cop's neutral tone.

"I spent some time with Norma? You know her?" Sybil asked bluntly, getting to the point.

Lordez's expression shifted. Sybil cringed. Perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned Norma. Norma and Lordez were engaged to marry but Norma had called it off. To make matters even more uncomfortable, Sybil had made love to Norma just a few hours ago ... best not mention that.

"Is Norma okay?" Lordez asked, the neutral cop tone gone as worry and concern played on her kind face. "I know what kind of doctor you are. I Googled you before coming out. Is it a brain injury? Was she attacked?"

Oh no, Sybil thought. Here she was, a stranger, a doctor showing up before dawn bringing up Norma's name. "She's fine," Sybil said quickly. "She's not a patient ... um ... she told me something about you that I'm curious about."

Suspicion replaced concern. "What's this about, Doctor?"

"Um ... you have a tattoo on your, um ... body? The symbol for the Church of Clara?"

Lordez said nothing and just looked at Sybil.

This wasn't going well; all she managed to do was make the woman wary. "I'm a liner and I need your help," Sybil said in desperation.

Lordez continued staring for several seconds, before replying, "Meet you at the Denny's at the corner in an hour."

**One hour later**

"Call me Sybil," Dr. Tobita said to Officer Lordez, sitting across from her in a booth at the all night Denny's restaurant. She was still in her black uniform with gun belt, hair in a bun, hat on the booth seat next to her.

"Call me Beatrice, I prefer Bea," Lordez said.

Sybil looked at the 'R' before Lordez on the officers name tag. Norma had called her Rosie.

"As a cop I go by my middle name Rosemarita. It's more Hispanic, sounds tougher then Beatrice or Bea."

"Rose is tough?" Sybil asked skeptically.

Bea shrugged. "They've got thorns."

"Do you believe that I'm a liner?" Sybil asked, getting right to it.

"Yeah, I feel it," Bea said. "We call you guys Nonseeth now."

"A Mon turn right?" Sybil said remembering what Maggie Edo had said. "Are you a Nonseeth too?"

"No way, I'm just a foot soldier," Bea said.

"The church in a war?" Sybil asked.

"Just a figure of speech. I'm ex-army I'll always see myself as a soldier."

"What is Mon?" Sybil asked.

"Look ... Sybil, go to the Church downtown and they will tell you everything."

"Top secret?"

"No, I'm no expert is all."

The waitress arrived interrupting the conversation.

"Just coffee," Bea said.

Sybil ordered the monster slam meat breakfast with a side of pancakes and a big bowl of fruit and a large Coke. "I stress eat," she said, embarrassed.

"No, you're Nonseeth," Bea said.

"Overeating is a Nonseeths thing?" Sybil asked, surprised.

"It would be overeating if you puked it all up," Bea said. "Do you?"

"Never."

"The big eating is a common thing among you folk."

Sybil thought for a moment. "Veronica, Norma's best friend, is Nonseeth isn't she."

Bea smiled. "She eats like a sumo wrestler ... yeah, she's Nonseeth. I met Norma through her."

"Does Veronica know what she is?"

"No."

"Should she know?"

"Most people go through life and never realize."

"What can you tell me about the church?" Sybil asked.

"First you have to tell me how you know you're a Liner?" Bea asked.

"I tripped in time."

"Wow ... okay. How did you learn the term, Liner?"

"I met someone who knew what I was. Tell me about the church?"

"Don't know much about the history," Bea said. "I only know what they do today."

"And what is that?"

"Watch out for time tripping events. Keep an eye on known Nonseeths; catalog the new ones. Help them out when we can."

"Noble. Is that all you do?"

"No the church was formed specifically to watch out for the lost ones."

"Who are the lost ones?" Sybil asked.

"Women who disappeared in the time stream. There are three I know by name. Lily Edo about a hundred years ago, Gwen Yoshimura, around 2011, and most recently, Alice Mihara."

"Is Lily Edo related to Maggie Edo?"

"I kind of assumed they are. I never met the reverend mother."

"They all have Japanese names," Sybil observed.

Bea shrugged. "Maybe they're all related."

"I find it hard to believe that a whole church was formed around a watch list," Sybil said.

"Something else," Bea said. "We prepare for the coming of the Winged One."

Sybil's eyebrows rose.

The food arrived. All the plates were grouped in front of Sybil. She dug in, starting with the slab of ham and hash browns. The scrambled eggs and bacon went next, quickly followed by the bowl of fruit, all the toast, and two biscuits. The stack of pancakes, drowned in blueberry syrup, went last, chased down with a large Coke.

"I wish I could eat like that and still look like you," Bea said.

"I wish I could bench press, what? One-fifty?" Sybil asked with a full mouth.

"Two hundred," Bea said. "This all turns to fat in two seconds if I don't watch out."

"I met the Winged One," Sybil said with her mouth stuffed with pancake.

Bea's jaw dropped and her brown eyes opened so wide, Sybil had to hold back a laugh.

"No fucking way!" Bea said. "She's just a myth! A fucking legend like angels from heaven!"

"I met the Winged One," Sybil repeated. "And it's a he and not a she."

"Total bullshit."

"Call Norma, she was there." Sybil said.

"No way. She'd accuse me of stalking her if I called."

"Veronica then."

"She's too close to Norma, same difference."

Sybil thought for a second. "You know Ishani?"

"Head Administrator for the Claras, yeah, I know her."

"Call her, she saw him too."

With a stony expression, Officer Lordez pulled out her smart phone, looked up a number then put the phone to her ear. "May I speak to administrative head, Sister Ishani Johar? This is Sister Beatrice Lordez, Santa Clara House out of San Jose. Yeah, I know it's super early but this involves a known Nonseeth here in San Francisco." Bea sat silent for a few seconds. "Sister Ishani? Sorry to bother you at this hour. I'm fine ... Yeah, my brother got into Harvard School Of Art, full ride ... Yeah, I had faith in him too ... I'm sitting in front of a woman who has made some outlandish statements about meeting the Winged One, and it was a guy. She said you know about it. Describe her? Um ... Asian about five-five, early thirties."

"Thanks, I'm forty-two," Sybil corrected.

"Attractive."

"Thanks again."

"Yes ... she's wearing a black and white dress." Bea's eyes widened. "The Reverend Mother wants to speak to her? Um ... yes, of course ..." Bea handed the phone to Sybil.

"Hello, Sybil," Maggie Edo said. "You taking care of my dress?"

"How long has it been since we last met?" Sybil asked.

"About three days."

"Ethan didn't come back with me," Sybil said.

There was a long pause then Maggie said, "Tell Sister Lordez to put the phone on speaker please."

Sybil handed the phone back to Bea.

"We on speaker?" Maggie asked from the phone.

"Yes," Bea said.

"Anyone nearby to hear?"

"Nobody."

"You just got drafted, Sister Beatrice. The church will cover your missed pay with the city."

"Yes, Reverend Mother," Bea said.

"And let's cut the Reverend Mother, Sister shit. Call me Maggie. Bea, right?"

"Yes Rev— um, Maggie."

"You are assigned to Dr. Tobita until further notice."

"I don't belong to your church," Sybil said. "And I don't need a bodyguard."

"This is beyond all of us," came another voice on Maggie's side.

"You remember Ishani," Maggie said.

"We are tracking a major kiskit event," Ishani said.

"Kiskit?" Bea said, sounding stunned.

"What is kiskit?" Sybil asked.

"Mon term," Ishani said.

"Somebody please tell me what the hell MON is," Sybil said.

"A planet on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy," Maggie said.

********

Katrina House, uninitiated Nonseeth, and mega pop star from Ballinger, Wisconsin, United States of America, Planet Earth, uncharted wormhole destination of the Joorcush, locally called the Milky Way Galaxy.

**Five months ago.**

Katrina House stood alone on the stage at the Byle Ohio battle of the bands rock festival.

"Get off the fucking stage homophobic asshole!" a woman in the audience yelled. That drew a laugh from the crowd.

Several major things were going against her at the moment. First, she was the lead singer in a Christian rock band named Jesus Weeps. Second, she was the third Christian rock band to hit the stage and the previous two totally sucked. Third, this was a drunken college crowd and hostile territory for Christian bands in general. Oh yeah, one more thing, the stage was plastered with signs condemning same sex unions, the biggest, a five by ten-foot fluorescent yellow banner declaring: True love and marriage is between a man and a woman ONLY. Katrina (Kat to all who knew her) had begged Allan, the leader of the band, to not display the signs. The other band members backed her suggestion. No go ... the signs went up.

The lights went down on the stage. The yellow glow coming from behind her told her Allan's stupid banner was well lit. Out of curiosity, the hostile crowd quieted to see what she was going to do. She started in on Elton John's 'This is My Song.' It had taken some persuading to get Allan to allow her to sing a song from an openly gay artist. With Danny Goya's help, they convinced Allan the song was about Jesus. Total bullshit, of course, but Allan believed it. Convincing Allen to allow her to sing the song acapella had been a challenge too but Kat managed to get her way. Being an attractive female and the ONLY girl in the band had its perks. The band had improved tenfold since Kat had joined the line-up. The only lag was Allan and his awful electric guitar playing. The guy totally sucked. Hence, no instruments for the opening number. Even Allan and his fat stupid ego had to admit Kat was the best thing they had going.

The acapella thing worked and Kat won the house but the crowd returned rowdy when the band joined her on stage. Danny Goya, the keyboardist and all around tech guru for the band, had rigged Allan's amp so that his awful guitar was hardly heard over Kat and the rest of the band. Except for the gay and lesbians in the crowd that let their ire show between sets, the crowd stayed on Kat's side. If not for those gross stupid banners, Kat would own this house, gays and lesbians included.

Once off stage, Allan, the leader of the band said, "We rocked this house!"

"KAT rocked this house," Calvin Douglass the base guitar player said to Kat so only she could hear. "The battle trophy is ours!" Calvin said louder. Kat gave Calvin a smile and squeezed his arm. The band members knew from experience that Allan's ego came first.

"If not for the fucking signs, Cal would be right," Danny Goya said. Like Calvin, he spoke softly so only Kat heard.

"We are not here for our own glory," Allan said sternly. "We are here to spread the word of Jesus. Let us pray for his blessing."

"Before you do that," came a female voice from off to the left. "Could you please remove your signs from the stage so that the next act can set up?"

Allan rudely ignored the speaker and coaxed the members of Jesus Weeps to one knee.

"Or not ..." the woman said exasperated and annoyed at Allan's rudeness.

Everyone bent their heads to pray. Seconds later, Kat and Danny looked up and stared at the woman who had just spoken. She was African American with long shiny dark hair.

"Is that one of the girls you meet in the future?" Danny whispered.

"Yeah ... Jenna is her name," Kat whispered back.

"She's hot," Danny whispered. That earned him a sharp elbow to the chest.

The prayer went on stupidly long. Allan finally said amen then went to talk to Jenna about the banners.

A petite Asian girl helping the next band set up on stage saw Kat and beckoned her to meet behind a curtain leg. Excusing herself from Danny, Kat stepped behind the curtain.

Kat slammed into the girl and hugged her fiercely. "Jesus, help me, Joy. I thought that this day would NEVER come," Kat said as tears filled her eyes.

"Know what you mean," Joy Maeda said as she delicately pulled away from Kat. "A lot is gonna happen tonight so we have to stick to the script."

Kat nodded. "I missed you ... and him."

"You're gonna get your fill of him real soon," Joy said.

"Take down the signs!" came Allan's voice, loud and angry from on stage.

"Go play your part," Joy said. She gave Kat a brief hug and slipped away.

Kat went on stage to help take down the offensive anti-gay and lesbian propaganda as the crowd cheered. Off stage a different Asian girl, this one tallish with a short butch hair cut approached Kat. It was Ashley Grant, Ethan Grant's cousin. "You have a terrific voice. We're looking for a backup singer for our coming tour." She handed Kat a card.

"You will not corrupt this child!" Allan said, snatching the card from Ashley and tossing it to the ground. Ashley shrugged and went to help her band set up. Behind Allan's back, Kat picked up the business card and smiled when she read it aloud. "Angel's Nest." The words were in gold overlying a red bird's wing, the background black. Kat stood next to Jenna Goldsmith in the wings. The music started up on stage. "House lights down," Jenna said.

The music got louder.

Joy slipped in next to Kat and introduced herself to Jenna. "I'm Joy."

"Where is the lead guitar?" Jenna yelled over the music.

"Behind you!" Joy yelled back.

Jenna turned and there he was. Kat couldn't hear her over the music but it was easy to read her lips. "What the fuck?" Jenna said.

Ethan pushed into the cramped space between the curtain legs. His wings brushed Kat's face. The smell of chlorine from the Reverend Rumcup's swimming pool triggered a host of memories.

"That costume is very ... convincing," Jenna said.

"You mean sexy as hell!" Joy corrected.

"That too," Jenna said. "But why? Doesn't seem to fit the kind of rock you're playing."

Joy shrugged. "Something Ethan's going through."

"He's an angel," Kat said.

"What's your name, big eyes?" Joy asked Kat with a wink.

"Kat with a K."

"Well, Kat with a K," Joy yelled. "Ethan, the dude with the wings, is real impressed with you. If you can find the balls to dump the holy rollers, you might just find a spot in Angel's Nest."

"Katrina? Why are you talking to these people?" Allan yelled over the music.

"Just checking out the guy with the wings, Allan," Kat said. Allen grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away.

********

Willamette (Billy) Ingram, emergency room nurse and uninitiated Nonseeth from Chicago Illinois, the United States of America, Planet Earth, uncharted wormhole destination of the Joorcush, locally called the Milky Way Galaxy.

**Current Time**

Willamette Ingram, Billy to a handful of friends, sat naked in a bedroom upstairs of the Haverdink house staring at the borrowed smart phone in her hands. The list in her head of people to call was narrowed down to one—Inessa Pieter. With a racing heart she dialed the number.

"Inessa's not gonna answer," Billy whispered. "I'm in a totally different dimension where I doesn't exist so I never met my exotic dancer Russian friend. Or, better yet, I'm totally insane." She wasn't sure which of the two scenarios was preferable.

The line rung four times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice.

"Inessa?" Billy said, holding back tears.

"Billy?" Inessa said.

"Yes," Billy said, allowing herself to cry.