Chapter 1

 Gabriyel

 

 

I stepped through the front doors of the school and sighed. I was as old as the human memory, and yet I had sentenced myself to high school. What was I thinking. Oh yeah, that heaven had gotten boring. I rolled my eyes and started for the councilor’s office.

I was told that I needed to get what they call a class schedule. In all my years of existence I’ve never had to attend school. But I was informed that I was to go to the councilor’s office to attain it and also something called a welcoming committee. I only hoped that this girl was worth it.

The office was fairly easy to find, and an aged red headed woman sat behind the front desk. She saw me when I walked in and smiled politely while asking my name. I answered her question and she directed me to the inner office.

I knocked on the door and a male’s voice bid me to enter. I stepped into a very comfortable looking office. There was a couch against the wall to my left, and two large plush chairs in front of a large mahogany desk. The floor was carpeted in a dark blue, and the walls matched, sporting paintings of various landscapes.

A medium sized man stood as I closed the door and offered me his hand. His light brown hair fell to just above his wire rimmed glasses as he gave me pleasant smile. It was difficult to determine his age. Although that was probably my short coming. I never got used to how long humans lived now.

There was a time when I would be considered a man, and now I look to be what they call an adolescent. A teenager of seventeen or eighteen. The age gained a lot less respect than it used to.

“Ah, you must be Mr. Engel. My name is Mr. Block.”

“Block?” He chuckled at my question.

“Yes, I’m afraid to say that I gained quite a bit of teasing when I was your age.” He sighed. “Still do actually thanks to my desire to council for high school students.” He sat back down behind his desk and gestured for me to take one of the chairs opposite him. As I sat he pressed a button on the intercom on his desk.

“Hey Sandra, can you find Raven for me?”

“No offense sir, but do you think that’s a good idea?” He chuckled again, the reason was lost to me.

“It’ll be fine.”

“All right, it shouldn’t be too hard to get her in here.”

“Thank you.” He directed his attention to a file that was sitting on his desk. He rifled through it for a moment before handing me a packet of papers. “Here is your class schedule, locker number, and a map of the school. Your welcoming committee will help you find your way around today, it’s just in case you get separated.”

“I’m sorry but what is a welcoming committee?”

“Oh I’m sorry, sometimes I forget that most schools don’t call it that. I’m afraid the staff was influenced by the student’s slang. A welcoming committee is just someone that we assign to show new students around on their first day.” I nodded and opened my mouth to ask another question but the door opened. A girl about seventeen walked in. She didn’t bother to knock or address the councilor, just plopped down on the other chair and propped her feet up on his desk.

She had long black hair that she kept in a tight braid that reached her waist. Her complexion was dark and her eyes were a deep brown that took everything in at once. She barely spared me glance, but I had no doubt that she had my features memorized.

Her dark blue jeans were tight at the hips, but flared at her knees to cover the combat boots she was wearing. She wore a tight black long sleeved shirt that covered the skin but left her form to be admired. She would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the obvious black eye she was sporting.

“What’s up Mr. B?”

“Raven, so glad you could make an appearance, are you going to tell me where you got the black eye this time?” They spoke easily with each other, as if they had casual conversations on a regular basis.

“Nope.” She answered popping the p and grinning at him. She had her elbows propped on the arm of the chair and her hands folded across her stomach. He sighed.

“You know that if you’re in some sort of trouble that I can help you.” She rolled her eyes. They seemed to have forgotten that I was in the room.

“How many times are you going to assume that I’m in some sort of trouble?” He raised his brow.

“Until you stop coming to school with bruises.”

“Come on Mr. B, you know my parents would never hurt me. I don’t get into trouble at school why can’t you just let it go. It’s my business.”

“It’s not normal to walk around with heavy bruising.”

“I’m not normal.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses.

“Come on Raven, please?” It was her turn to sigh.

“I’m taking self defense classes. It’s normal to get a little banged up from sparing.” He stared into her eyes for a long moment as if trying to see if she were lying. I could have told him she wasn’t but it really wouldn’t have done any good. I didn’t know her or him.

“Okay, Laura wanted me to give you these.” He answered putting a cookie tin on the desk closer to her. “For babysitting for us last week.” She perked up like a small child and snatched the tin. She popped the lid off and grinned. She pulled out a chocolate chip cookie and took a bite. She sighed in contentment then looked up at him in suspicion.

“What’s the catch?”

“Hmm?” he answered looking at the door.

“You only ever deliver these when you want me to do something. And I usually don’t have a choice.” He looked back at her with a cheerful smile.

“Well now that you mention it, this young man needs someone to show him around for the day.” She stopped mid chew and stared at him.

 

 

 

Raven

 

 

 

You have got to be kidding me! He’s sentencing me to welcoming committee? What did I ever do to him? Now I’m going to have some newbie following me around all day. So not fair.

At least that’s what I was thinking while I was staring at him like a moron. He kept that annoying smile on his face. It was like he enjoyed torturing me. He of all people knew that I liked to keep to myself. Actually that’s probably why he was making me do it. He was one of those adults who tried to force kids out of their protective bubbles. I like right where mine was.

“What did I do to deserve this?” He gave me one of his ’Your being childish looks.’

“It won’t kill you to be hospitable. Plus, you could use a few more friends.”

“My friends are just fine.”

“Yes, they are very nice people, that doesn’t mean you can’t branch out a little.”

“Branching out can get you killed. How do you know he isn’t a serial killer or something?” The guy in question coughed. “No offense, I’m just making a point.” I directed at him absently.

“There’s no need to be dramatic. Besides this will be the least of your worries when you walk out that door.” My eyes widened in dread. “I’ve also been going over your school record. It seems you haven’t participated in any extracurricular activities since you’ve been here. And you’ve lived in this town all your life.”

“So that’s not a crime.”

“No, but it does look good on college applications.”

“So does a part time job and I’ve already got that. My 4.0 helps a lot too. What more do you want from me?”

“I want you to try out and join at least two extracurricular activities by this time next week.” My jaw dropped. He handed me a piece of paper that had a list of said activities on it.

“Why?” He shrugged.

“It’ll be good for you.”

“Between work, school work, and these I’ll never have any time for anything else.” He kept his gaze steady, but I saw right through it. It was his intention to take all of my spare time. That way I can’t spend it in self defense. I glared at him for a solid minute. Finally, he dropped his gaze.

“It’s this or I make you participate in any extra work the school needs. I hear the gym could use some extra help waxing the floors and putting up the bleachers.” If I hadn’t been holding my cookies I would have thrown something.

“Fine!” I answered standing, the new guy followed suit. He had been watching our exchange like it was a prized tennis match. “Your lucky your wife makes the best cookies in the world. And that your son is adorable.” I said before storming out, the new guy on my heels.

Sandra was sitting at her desk, pretending to work. She looked up at me when I came out and eyed me up and down. She sat up straight as I grew level with her desk. She was a really nice woman, but nosy as hell.

“How’d it go?” I rolled my eyes.

“He’s punishing me.”

“I am not!” he yelled from his office. The door was still open. I wasn’t sure if he would see it, but I stuck my tongue out at his general direction, and left with Sandra giggling behind me.

I got halfway to the cafeteria before I remembered that I was supposed to be showing someone around. I stopped after berating myself silently for being so rude. Just because I had my own dilemma didn’t mean I should take it out on an innocent person. I turned to him, he had just been following me silently, when I looked at him he hastily shifted his eyes, like he had been staring at me.

“What’s your name?” I asked. I suppose to others it might have seemed abrupt. I seem abrupt to a lot of people. I just tend to follow along with my thoughts, so it’s kind of all one stream to me. But his eyes widened for a second before he composed himself.

“Gabriyel, Gabriyel Engle.” I raised an eyebrow. I found his name interesting. Engle meant angel, and Gabriel was a well known archangel’s name. Either his parents had high hopes or no imagination.

I studied him for a moment. His hair was as black as night, it rivaled my own. Although where my complexion was on the darker side, his was pale. Almost completely white. He was tall standing at six three easily, but he had some muscle I had to give him that. I wasn’t exactly short, but I barely topped his shoulders. His bright green eyes were almost piercing as I met them. He gave me the impression that he could just look right down to my core, and see everything about me. I had to admit, he was gorgeous. Which only made me sigh in defeat.

“This is gonna suck.” I muttered before turning to finish our trek. He matched my pace to walk at my side.

“I’m sorry, but what is going to suck?” He spoke properly like he was at least fifty years older than he was.

“Oh, sorry. I meant no offense, it’s just that we have to go to the cafeteria, students aren’t allowed to wander the halls until the first bell.”

“And how will that suck exactly?” I stopped and turned to him again.

“Well, hmm, how do I say this, you’re not exactly hard to look at.”

“I do not understand.” I sighed again and decided to hell with it, I would just have to be blunt.

“You’re hot, which means that every girl in that room is going to be all over you. And since I have to stick with you until the last class is over, I’m going to have to put up with all of them.” I watched him digest this information. Honestly, what guy doesn’t know when he looks good. He must have been oblivious in his last school. When a corner of his mouth began to rise into a half smile I knew that he got it, and turned to walk the last hall to my torture.

As I predicted, as soon as he followed me through the double doors every head turned to check him out. I heard the girls gasping in awe and stifled the urge to roll my eyes. Sure he was hot, but nothing to get so excited about.

Brett waved at me from our usual table. It was to the side of the room with a wall on one side, tables on the other, and the door was in easy reach. It was actually my table from my first day. I had a thing about crowds, and the only way to get around it was to have a wall at my back, and nothing between me and the door.

A couple of weeks after I had staked out that particular table I had met Brett. It took a little while, but he had become my best friend, and so sat with me every day. We’ve only been separable by classes since.

His eyebrow raised when he spotted Gabriyel, but when he sat down on the other side of the table, Brett stiffened. I had no idea what that was about and made a mental note to ask him later. For the time being I put the list of extras on the table in front of me and began crossing some of them out.

“What’s up?” Brett asked, simultaneously gesturing to the paper and Gabriyel.

“I’m his welcoming committee, and Mr. B is making me sign up for two extras by next week.”

“Why?” I shrugged.

“Says it’ll be good for me.”

“But what about…” He trailed off but I knew what he was asking. My self defense had gotten a little unorthodox in the last couple of years. It wasn’t exactly something we could talk about in public. I gave him a wry look.

“Why do you think he’s doing it.”

“Well, damn. I guess we’ll just have to figure something out.” I shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should just ride this out, I mean if I start tearing up his school he’ll back off.” He gave me ‘the look’ and I smiled. “Relax I was joking. No need to be so serious.” He rolled his eyes and pulled the list so it sat between us.

“You could join the chess team, you like chess.” I leveled my gaze on him.

“Yeah, let’s just stick me in a chair for hours on end in a room full of innocent teenagers.” He pulled out a pen and crossed that off the list.

“There’s the book club.” I made a face.

“I never want to read what they do.” He slashed another line on the paper.

“Oh, here we go, you could join the choir. You’d have to switch to the class, but it won’t take any time after school, except for concerts.” I thought about it for a moment. Choir was a fourth hour class, my current class that hour was study hall, and I never used it to do my work. So I nodded and he circled that one.

“There’s the mathaletes.” I snorted, and he crossed that one out. It wasn’t that I didn’t like math, well very few people actually like math. But I was good at it, just not interested enough to try to make it a competition.

“What about the dance team? They hold practice during the seventh hour class. Again, it wouldn’t take any extra time, except for any extra practices, and performances.” I considered it. I had economics that hour, but it was only a filler. Technically I already had all of my mandatory credits to graduate. The next two years were really about getting the right number of credits under my belt.

“Maybe, I’ll see.” Instead of waiting to actually here my decision on it, he went ahead and circled it. He knew me well enough to know that it was my best option.

Gabriyel spent this time watching us as if we were some kind of experiment. I didn’t really mind, I was used to people looking at me peculiarly. I looked at the time and saw that we had only about five minutes until the bell rang. I wasn’t sure he was ready for the onslaught of teenage bodies that the cafeteria turned into whenever the bell rang.

“Come on, I’ll take you to your first class before the stampede starts.” I stood and he followed automatically. After finding out that we had the same first hour, I took my time.

It was on the other side of the building, but on the same floor, so we had some time. That is until we were about halfway there. We had turned down a hallway lined with lockers, and I paused for a moment when I spotted Janine about halfway down.

Janine was the typical queen bitch. You know, the ones that think they hold the most weight in the school. The only problem was that she actually did. Her dad was the principal, and she would get away with murder if it wasn’t on the federal level. She stood stick still next to a smaller girl, with short mousy brown hair. And I mean stick, the girl had no curves to speak of.

She must have been new as well. I had never seen her before. Although this isn’t exactly a small town, I had met just about everybody in it, one way or another. I watched as they continued to argue, though I couldn’t quite hear what it was about.

I pulled a cookie out of my bag as I started forward. Hey, don’t judge, I would spill blood for Sandra’s cookies. The woman could bake. I made it almost level with the fake blonde before she noticed my arrival. Which meant I had gotten to hear the last bit of the argument.

“It’s not right!” The new girl hissed vehemently.

“Get this straight little girl. What I do is always right, I rule this place. Ask anyone that’s been here for more than five minutes. And if you know what’s healthy for you, you’ll fall in line, just like everybody else.” I decided to join in, I wasn’t invited but who wants to argue semantics.

“I’ve never been very good with lines. I guess that’s why I’m not in drama.” Janine jumped in surprise at the sound of my voice. I was the only one she didn’t try to rule over. Mostly because we had a rather long and nasty past.

She turned to me putting a hand on a non existent hip. The other girl just stared at me for a moment, then stared at Gabriyel for another, before finally turning back to Janine. Who suddenly realized that she was outnumbered. I eyed her for a moment while I took a bite out of another cookie.

She started to fidget a little. Running her fingers over her shirt and touching her hair. I knew she was up to something, she always was. Then she moved slightly to her right, and I heard a slight movement coming from the locker that she was trying to cover.

I looked down at my cookie. It was too big to shove in my mouth, and I didn’t have a napkin handy. Finally, I turned to the new girl. She looked clean and her hands were empty.

“Hey, your hands look clean, will you hold my cookie?” She looked at me with mild shock and surprise, but nodded. I handed it over careful to keep her from touching the part that I had taken a bite out of. I dusted my hands off on my jeans then turned to Janine. She swallowed nervously.

“What are you staring at?” I smiled at her sweetly, then grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the left up against the lockers.

She acted like I was choking her, but she could breath just fine. I wasn’t hurting her, simply keeping her in place. I reached over with my other hand, keeping eye contact with her, and opened the locker she had been guarding with a flick of my wrist. A small freshman girl tumbled out, barely keeping her footing.

It had really taken some force to get her in there. She still wore her back pack, and her arms were full of text books. But she was short and the lockers were deeper than they looked.

When she had righted herself, she took in her surroundings. She saw the new girl and Gabriyel, then her eyes widened when she took in me and Janine. I held up a hand to keep her in place then turned back to my child hood nemesis.

“Shoving freshmen into lockers again? I thought we had discussed this.” Her face turned red, not from lack of oxygen, but anger.

“Let me go, you delinquent! I’ll tell my father, you’ll never come back to this school again!” I scoffed.

“Out of all of the times you’ve gotten me sent to his office, do you really think he’ll actually do anything?” That left her speechless, and I gave her a disgusted look, before letting her go. “Now run along.” I turned my back on her, and listened to her huff and puff, before she realized there wasn’t anything she could do, and stomped down the hallway.

I turned to the small girl and she shrank back a little, but straightened her shoulders as soon as she did. She had potential, she just got caught being smaller than someone else, and didn’t know how to use it to her advantage. I dug in my bag until I found what I was looking for.

I handed her the business card that I always carried around with me. I kept one at all times, just in case of things like this happening. She took it hesitantly and read what was on the front. Her eyes widened and she looked back up at me quickly.

“Get some training, and that will never happen again. Never let anyone lay a hand on you, if you don’t want them too.” She nodded and continued on her way, staring at the card she still held in her hand.

I reached for my cookie and the new girl handed it to me gently. She stared at me for a moment and I turned to see Gabriyel doing the same. I shrugged and took another bite. I motioned for him to follow and tried to leave, but the girl stood in my way.

“Um, could you tell me which way to go to my first class?” I looked at her confused.

“Don’t you have a welcoming committee?” She shrugged.

“That blonde chick was supposed to show me around, but I would prefer not to have to stick with her all day.” I nodded to show I understood.

“What class do you have?”

“World history.” I stared at her for a moment.

“Mr. Pickard?” She nodded as I finished off the cookie then nodded.

“It’s your lucky day, we’re headed there now.” I turned and they flanked me. Little did I know, they would spend a lot of time in those spots.

It turned out that they were in all four of my morning classes, and my lunch schedule. I passed Mr. Block in the halls once, and he raised a brow at seeing both of the new students walking with me. He knew better than to ask. Even the faculty knew about mine and Janine’s so called relationship. It was always her on one side and me on the other. I rather enjoyed the distance.

Chapter 2

I walked into the cafeteria with my two shadows. The new girl, whose name turned out to be Sara, was on one side and Gabriyel was on the other. They never talked to each other, even though they had spent the entire day walking and sitting next to each other. It was odd, but who was I to judge.

Brett on the other hand did not look happy to see them. That was something I had no intention of ignoring. I sat in my usual seat, Brett sat in his, and the other two took seats as far from each other as possible, and still sit at the same table.

Sara seemed nice enough. She asked me small questions, such as my name, what grade I was in, if I worked and so on. Gabriyel was nice in his own way. When Sara wasn’t asking me questions he tried to make small talk. I liked them well enough as individuals, but the tension they carried around with them made me uneasy.

Brett spent the majority of his time ignoring them both. We talked as much as we could with people listening in so closely. I had never been so relieved to see the end of lunch. Unfortunately, they also had the same fifth hour as me, and sixth, and seventh. They shared my exact schedule and I was starting to get paranoid.

“You free tonight?” Brett asked effectively jolting me from my thoughts. I shook my head.

“Nah, I’ve got to work tonight.”

“Closing?”

“No, the short shift.” He nodded, and then we separated for our separate classes.

At the end of the day I waved goodbye to my new stalkers, and headed for my car. It wasn’t an overly nice car, but it suited me well enough. It took maybe ten minutes to get to the bar, where I worked. Legally I wasn’t old enough to serve alcohol, but when I first started I didn’t. I simply served food, and bused the tables. But it became apparent rather quickly that I was the best server that Bo had. So he let go one of his old waitresses and bumped me up. It was good money, as drunk people tipped really well. So I was able to bring in a full time income while just working part time after school, four days a week.

I changed out of my combat boots in favor for a well worn pair of tennis shoes. Have you ever tried to wait tables in combat boots? It isn’t easy, and causes quite a bit of discomfort.

It was a Tuesday night, so I worked with only one other girl. Her name was Jenn and she was a sweetheart. Sometimes I gave her some of my hours. She was twenty four and working to take care of her two year old son. I guess the father skipped out when he found out she was pregnant. When she was short on a babysitter I would watch him for a while. I was kind of the go to girl for odd babysitting jobs. I did it for free so I was pretty popular.

“Hey Jenn, how are you doing tonight?” She had dark circles under her eyes, and her normally vibrant red hair looked a little dull.

“Okay I guess. Jake had a fever last night, but he seemed better this morning.”

“That’s great. Do you think he’s getting his molars?” She nodded.

“Yeah, he’s miserable. I was going to try to pick up Betty’s shift tomorrow night, but I don’t have a sitter. My mom has a date and doesn’t want to cancel. I’m glad though, she hasn’t dated anyone since dad died.”

“Well, I can take him for a while tomorrow. I don’t have any other plans.” She looked at me with such a grateful expression I almost blushed.

“You’d do that?”

“Of course, just drop him off on your way here.”

“Oh thank you, you are an angel.” I chuckled, she said that every time I offered to sit for her.

“Oh, I have Sam tomorrow night too, will that be a problem?” I asked. I suddenly remembered that I watched Mr. B’s son every Wednesday night, so they could have a date night.

“That’s fine, Jake loves Sam, he’s always excited when he gets to play with him.” I nodded. Sam was only three, so they were close enough to the same age to actually get along.

The rest of the night went quickly. It was usually just a steady stream of taking orders and cleaning tables. By the time eight o’clock I was ready to leave. Too many drunk men and college boys for my taste. They tended to get a little handsy around their fifth round or so.

When I got my boots back on and waved to Jenn and Bo, I was ever so glad to see the end of the place. The drive home took about fifteen minutes. We lived out in the country so the commute back and forth was a bit of a pain sometimes. But the quiet was nice. If I could describe my home in one word I would say peaceful.

I pulled around to the back of the house. It was a two story Victorian style, but wasn’t over the top. It was modest but beautiful at the same time. There was a sliding glass door that led to the kitchen that only the family used. Well, the family and Brett. I saw his car in the usual spot that he parked when he came over and perked up a bit. I was tired and Brett always helped me relax after work.

I walked in quickly but paused when I turned to survey the room. Brett and my parents were sitting stiffly at the dining table, that shared space in the kitchen with the rest of the appliances. But that wasn’t what made me hesitate. Credit for that goes to Gabriyel and Sara, who were sitting at the opposite side of the table.

They had all turned to look at me when I walked in, and it looked like I had interrupted a very serious conversation. They stared at me as I stared at them. Finally, I stepped forward and dropped my keys and apron on the island that separated the actual kitchen from our dining area.

“So, I don’t suppose anyone is going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, and everyone took a deep breath as if they were all going to answer me at the same time. But it was my mom that ended up speaking.

“Honey, there’s something that we need to tell you.”

Five minutes later I sat staring at my parents. They had to be joking. Just one big elaborate joke. And I might have believed that it was if it wasn’t for the fact that my parents weren’t that good at making jokes. They could be fun, it just wasn’t easy for them to be funny.

“Excuse me, there must be something preposterous in my ear. I’m a what?”

“An angel.” My dad answered. I nodded, they were all sitting on the edge of their seats waiting. I suspected that they expected me to freak out.

“So like an angel of the biblical variety?” They all squirmed a little at the question.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.” Brett answered. He seemed to be having a hard time meeting my eyes.

“Complicated how?”

“Angels are born of the imagination.” Gabriyel announced as if that explained everything.

“And that means?” My dad cleared his throat after glaring at Gabriyel.

“The first angels were created simply because such a large number of humans believed that they existed. And once so many angels were believed to exist, then others made an appearance. Heaven was believed to be, well, a heavenly place, and so it came to be. Humans believed that there were guardians watching over them and their society, and then all of a sudden there was an angel for everything. Each religion has their own depiction of angels, and their own variety.”

“Okay, so how am I one exactly?” My parents exchanged uneasy glances.

“Well, both of us, your mother and I, are angels, therefore you were born one.”

“You’re both angels.” It wasn’t a question, but Sara decided to answer anyway.

“We all are.” I looked around the table and nodded. Brett twitched a little. Something he always did when he was nervous.

“Why are you both here?” I asked suddenly. I had just met Gabriyel and Sara that day, I didn’t see why they had to be there for the big unveiling.

“We came to watch you.” Gabriyel answered as if it were the most obvious fact of the night.

“Why?”

“Honey, the thing is, is you’re kind of unique.” My mom answered uneasily.

“How am I unique?”

“Born of earth, conceived by both the pure and the fallen.” It was spoken in almost a biblical way, by Gabriyel, of course. I turned on him.

“Could you just, stop talking? I never understand what you’re saying.” He looked a bit offended, but retreated in his chair with his mouth clamped tightly shut. I turned to my parents and my dad took a deep breath.

“You have to understand, Raven. Angels are not supposed to experience the emotions and temptation that humans, and the earth provide. We are ruled by a high council that dictate what we can and cannot do. Granted there are reasons for some of the restrictions, like nephilim. But only because there is no way to rule over the hybrids if they become power hungry. Heaven is a peaceful place, but it is also strict. There are different sects and types of angels. We are all created with a purpose, and it is demanded of us to fulfill those purposes but nothing else. For two angels to experience love and family is rare.

The angels that choose to remain in heaven and do the council’s bidding are considered pure angels. But those of us that grew tired of the restrictions and lack of freewill, the ones that decide to live freely on earth, must fall to obtain it. They are called the fallen, and are actually considered tainted. They no longer hold the purity it takes to live in heaven. If they wish to continue to provide the services that they were made for, they must do so with the limitations that comes with living on earth. It changes…for lack of a better term, it changes the genetic makeup of the angel.

I fell almost thirty years ago.”

“Thirty years?” He spared me a small smile.

“Once we reach a certain age, we can choose how old we look at any given time. I used to pose as an old man when ever you went to the park as a little girl.” My eyes widened and he shrugged looking a little guilty. “You insisted on going by yourself and I worried.” I wracked my memory to see if I would remember him. Then I had it. There was an old man that used to sit on the bench and watch the kids play. I thought he looked like my grandfather would have looked if I had ever met him. I think I might have told him that once.

“Uh, I used to talk to you! I thought you were just a harmless old man with nothing better to do than sit at the park.“ He smiled fondly at the memory.

“Yeah, you used to save your allowance and bring me cookies and chocolate milk.“ I scoffed again, then took a deep breath.

“Okay, so you’re a fallen angel. But he said conceived of both the pure and the fallen.” My mom gave me a radiant smile. Actually now that I thought about it, it kind of made sense.

“I’m not fallen, I still make trips up to heaven every now and then.” Well, that explained her periodical business trips, even though she ran a company that organized charities.

“I’m confused. If fallen angels are considered tainted wouldn’t it be, I don’t know, taboo to marry one?”

“Oh it is. Caused quite a bit of a stir when the council found out about us. But there wasn’t a rule against it. Like your father said, love between angels is rare. So rare that it’s coveted. So they allowed me to live here with him, and do my work in the mortal world. A couple of years after we married I became pregnant with you. We didn’t even know it was possible. Again, like he said, it changes the genetics of the fallen. We had assumed he was sterile, and even considered adopting, but then you showed up. It had never happened before. A fallen and pure not only marrying, but conceiving. You are one of a kind.” I took a moment to take that in, then continued with my questions.

“You said that their were different kinds. What kinds are there?”

“Just about any kind you can think of really. I’m an angel of prosperity, and your father was a guardian.” I looked at Brett.

“What are you? Are you fallen or…?”

“No, I’m pure. But I’m a guardian. Your guardian actually.”

“Do angels get assigned a guardian when they’re born?” He shook his head.

“No, but you were born on earth. And every soul born to earth is assigned a guardian. Normally we remain incorporeal. But it became obvious that you needed a more physical influence, so I petitioned the council and they allowed me to become your friend instead of just your guardian.”

“Why now?” My suddenness took them all by surprise. I didn’t know why, the majority of the people in the room had known me since birth. And should have been used to me by now.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“We wanted you to have a normal life for as long as possible. But your eighteenth birthday is in a few weeks. We had to tell you soon. But when Gabriyel and Sara showed up to monitor you, it kind of sped things along.” I decided to take the answer one part at a time.

“Okay, why do I need to be monitored?”

“There has never been anyone like you… ever. You have both fallen and pure angel blood. But you were also born on earth, which means you don’t have the same limitations as the rest of us. You have true free will. Even fallen angels only have an imitation of that. We choose to do what we want but it still feels wrong to us. For you it is natural, you are human, fallen, and pure angel all rolled into one. And since that is the case, each side has sent an ambassador of sorts to watch you. To see who you will make an enemy and who will be an ally.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Fallen angels and pure angels are on opposite sides. The pure angels believe that we should stay where we are and only act out our purpose, while taking the other things where we can get them. But fallen angels believe that we should have our own free will, not just be forced to watch the humans squander theirs. You could go either way, and so they want to watch you closely to see which side you will lean towards.”

“Well, what kind of angel am I? Mom’s prosperity and you were a guardian, what does that make me?”

“We don’t know. Ordinarily when an angel is born of parents they wait to see what dictates their personality to name them. Their personality is always linked to their specific type. But you were born here, and society dictates naming at birth. So we improvised.”

“Improvised?”

“You have a dark complexion and hair color, your hair never changed from birth. Angels are born with the same physical attributes that they will keep throughout their existence. So we named you Raven, meaning dark. Abraxos is another word for angel.”

“What about my middle name?”

“Nitika is a native American term. It means angel of the precious.” I nodded.

“So what’s so special about my birthday?” Again my dad cleared his throat before answering. I learned when I was young that it was a nervous tick of his. Anytime he felt uncomfortable he cleared his throat.

“When an angel reaches their eighteenth birthday, they gain their wings.” I’m fairly certain my jaw touched the floor.

“I’m going to grow wings?!” They all nodded.

“Yes, at the precise time of your birth, 2:37 pm, your wings will develop.” A sudden thought hit me.

“Wait, so all of you have wings too?” They all nodded and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Can I see them?” A moment of silence answered me, but then they all started to move at once.

The most space they had was on my side of the table, and I stood in anticipation. Well, anticipation and surprise, as they all removed articles of clothing. My dad, Brett, and Gabriyel all took their shirts off. While my mom and Sara just took off the over shirts that they were wearing. Underneath they both had on tank tops that left the space between their shoulder blades bare.

Now I had seen both Brett and my dad without shirts on. Brett was a close friend and we had known each other for years, so it wasn’t weird. And of course I grew up with my dad, so it was only natural to have seen him shirtless. But Gabriyel was new. And to say that he looked impressive would be a major understatement.

His shoulders were wide, and if I wrapped both of my hands around his biceps they wouldn’t be able to touch. His chest was sculpted as was his abdomen. I was just glad that I didn’t have to stare to take it all in. It might have gotten awkward.

With all of them showing so much skin at one time, I noticed things that I hadn’t before. Or things that I had forgotten about. But they all had almost identical tattoos, placed in separate parts of their body.

Sara’s was on the inside of her left wrist. Brett’s was on his right bicep, my dad’s sat at the base of his back. As my mom lifted her hair to rearrange it I noticed hers just under her hair line at the back of her neck. Gabriyel’s was on his right shoulder blade.

They all varied in size, but it was always the same thing. A pair of wings. Most of them were small to medium sized, which explained why I never noticed them. My mom’s was hidden by her hair, and Brett’s sat high enough that any shirt he wore would cover it. It was at the back so even without his shirt it would have been hard to spot, as I didn’t spend much time behind him. Sara’s was tiny, but Gabriyel’s was the largest and the most noticeable.

When they were all spaced with ample room between them, I watched as they all tensed and relaxed their shoulders. Then out of nowhere each one of them grew wings. It was slow at first but once the tip of the wings were visible from behind their shoulders it sped up. Until they all stood with big feathery wings.

They all flexed and stretched their wings, giving a simultaneous look of relief. All of them were different sizes and colors but all of them were beautiful in their own unique way. Sara’s and my mom’s were smaller than the guys, but Gabriyel’s were the largest.

My mom’s were a pure gold, that missed her hair by just a few shades. My dad’s on the other hand were a bright blue with turquoise tips, that matched his eyes. Brett’s were a deeper blue with green streaks running all through the feathers. Sara was a bright purple with magenta bursts all over them. But Gabriyel’s were the ones that made my breath catch.

His feathers were a solid black, but had a deep red in the center of each feather. Going from the base all the way to the tips. It was breath taking. I stepped closer to all of them slowly, inspecting all of them one at a time. When I made it to Gabriyel, he stiffened.

His wings just looked so soft and inviting. I reached a hand towards them, but pulled back quickly. I didn’t know how personal an angel’s wings were. It might be a major taboo to try to touch them.

“May I?” I asked, and he looked like he was in deep consideration before he nodded. I reached forward again, but didn’t have to reach far. His wings curved over his shoulders and around his sides, almost making a cocoon around us, and met my hand.

They were just as soft as they looked. I ran my hands down the spine on the top, then let them trail down slowly along the insides. Heat radiated both from him and his wings, it felt oddly, intimate. Brett cleared his throat softly.

It wasn’t something to bring attention to himself. To anyone else it would have sounded natural, but I had a tendency to get overly fixated on certain things. Something would catch my attention and I would study it to a point of climbing intensity. It made people feel a little awkward sometimes.

So he came up with this subtle, private way to let me know when I was beginning to go too far. It was just soft enough to catch my attention and pull me back from myself. When I focused on something and I went too far, the people around me would get weird. Like they would stare at me or become mildly obsessed for a short time. Not just guys but girls as well. It was like I was a soft warm blanket in the middle of a frigid winter, and they couldn’t get enough of it. It would always pass eventually, but they never acted the same around me. I loved the times when I was alone and could let go without worrying about the people around me.

So when he gave me that signal, I let my hands linger on the feathers for a moment longer, before stepping back out of the cocoon he had made. It didn’t occur to me until later that Brett had never been effected by my intensity. Maybe the strange effect didn’t work on angels. I hoped so. It would be nice to have a group of people that I could just be myself around.

“What are mine going to look like?”

“We don’t know. Your wings reflect your personality, and in turn your purpose.” Gabriyel answered. He drew his wings back like he was going to flap them at me, but instead they shrank, and disappeared.

“So you guys are going to stick around until then?” They gave me uneasy looks.

“Well, until we know which side you lean in.” Sara was the one that answered.

“In other words you’re here until I pick either the fallen or the pure.” She nodded and I turned to my parents.

“I’m babysitting Jake and Sam tomorrow night. I think I’m gonna go to bed.” They both nodded and I turned to go upstairs to my room.

 

 

 

Gabriyel

 

 

 

I watched as she rounded the corner, then listened as she made her way up the steps. Every angel had their own magnetism. Something that gave others the desire to be close to them. But she had it in abundance.

Where as most wore that magnetism as a cloak, she kept hers buried so it came out in bursts. And when it did show she almost glowed with it. Regardless of what side she chose, of what purpose she had, she was going to be very powerful once she came to her full potential.

Someone cleared their throat. Actually it was more than one someone. Then I realized I was still staring after her. I turned back to the room to see all of them staring at me. It made me uncomfortable. Normally I wasn’t able to be seen, so to be stared at was somewhat new to me.

“What?” Sara rolled her eyes, Brett raised an eyebrow, Kathleen, Raven’s mother, smirked, but Jacob, her father, seemed to be getting angry.

“It’s been too long since you’ve been on earth. Staring at a girl like that is considered inappropriate.” Sara answered.

“Why?” I didn’t understand what had gotten them so upset.

“Because it hints at intentions that are less than pure.” She said sweetly.

It took me a moment to comprehend her meaning. But as much as I wanted I couldn’t dispute the accusation. I couldn’t deny that I felt an attraction to her. So I just nodded to show that I understood and made a mental note that if I observed her to do it more discreetly.

Chapter 3

Raven

 

 

 

I woke up relatively relaxed. Of course finding out that you’re a mythological creature isn’t exactly something to brush off. But I couldn’t let it disturb me too much. I figured I would just take it one day at a time. Who knows maybe it will help understand a few things about myself. Like why I was so restless all of the time, and needed physical outlets or I would become destructive.

But since I couldn’t wallow in bed I got up for school. After that the day passed in a blur. It was mostly spent asking Bret++t questions on the rare occasion that Sara and Gabriyel weren’t around.

I understood that they were sent to watch me, but it got creepy at times. To the point that Sara would even follow me to the bathroom. I was seriously going to have to set some boundaries.

And I started with my auditions to my new school pass times. They were both shadowing me as I made my way down to the music room. I had set up a time with the choir director that morning to meet up right after the last bell. After this is it was directly to the gym for the dance team. The captain set it up so I could audition without the rest of the team there. She owed me a favor anyway since I had been copying my notes for her when she had late practices for the last two years.

So when I reached the choir room doors I turned to my two stalkers with hands out, palms facing them. They both halted and looked at me with surprise. Sara less than Gabriyel. Apparently she had been on earth allot longer than he has.

“End of the line, you can wait out here.”

“But…” Gabriyel started to protest.

“No.” I cut him off, but he was determined to get his say.

“We are supposed to watch you in every aspect of your life.”

“I don’t care. Some things are personal and this is one of those things. I don’t need you staring at me while I’m trying to audition for something I never wanted to be a part of to begin with.” He flustered and whined for a couple more minutes before finally giving up.

Twenty minutes later I had passed my audition with flying colors. It was actually kind of embarrassing. The teacher kept gushing and demanding to know why I hadn’t tried out years ago. Saying I had been wasting my talent. I let her rant for a few minutes before telling her I had to go try out for something else. She let me go even though she wanted me to stay to rehearse the songs that they were working on at the time.

The dance audition went roughly the same way. I had enough control of my body to copy any moves she showed me once and get it down the first time. She didn’t gush as much as the teacher. She didn’t see wasted talent but a future advantage. Something about finally winning state. I left before she could get too far into her rant.

I stepped out of the gym to see Gabriyel and Sara bickering about something. It looked kind of personal with all of the arm waving and attempted whispering so I just walked past them. Unfortunately they weren’t so involved in their argument that they didn’t notice me. Instead they just continued on as they followed me to my car. We finally got there when they both paused to stare.

“What?” I looked my car over. It wasn’t great being a ‘90 Taurus but it wasn’t an eye sore either.

“Why do you have a car seat in your car?” Sara asked.

I supposed it did make me look like I had a kid. I had been keeping that car seat in my back seat for the last year. Sometimes people needed an emergency babysitter so I bought one. It just made things easier.

“I baby sit. Speaking of I need to go pick a kid up so I‘ll meet you at the house.” I didn’t give them a chance to argue. Instead I just jumped in and started the ignition.

About an hour later I pulled into my driveway with an almost three year old boy chattering in my ear. Sam was a sweet kid and he had good parents. But I understood that sometimes parents needed a break, and it was a good excuse to get down on their level and be a kid myself.

“Come on shorty it’s time to go in.” I said getting out and opening the back door. I unbuckled him and helped him climb out grabbing the diaper bag at the same time. My parents were patient with my desire to baby sit. I did it two or three times a week depending on who needed what.

“Okay. Raven can I play with your legos?” he asked in that baby voice of his. It was adorable.

“Sure, but only until Jack gets here.” He hopped up and down in his excitement.

“Sam’s coming?!”

“Yep.”

“Yay!” He ran ahead of me to the back door. I had been babysitting him every Wednesday since he was a baby and he knew my home as well as I did.

I walked in just behind him and everyone was already congregated in the kitchen. I was surprised to see Brett was there. He usually steered clear when I babysat. Probably because kids couldn’t get enough of him. Which was demonstrated when Sam threw himself at him in the excitement that only a child could have.

“Brett!”

“Hey kiddo, what’s up?” Sam buried his head in Brett’s shoulder for a second before beaming up at him.

“Raven said I could play with legos until Jack comes!”

“That’s great why don’t you go get them?” I put the diaper bag on the counter ignoring Gabriyel and Sara as I made my way to the living room. I had to deal with them for eight hours at school. To think that I had to have them watching me until I went to bed made me feel exhausted.

When I made it to the living room I opened what should have been a coat closet. Instead it held all of the things I needed for the kids. Including a little table with miniature chairs, that I quickly assembled. Closely following the table was the large box of toys that I had splurged on for the kids. On the top shelf was the box of legos that I kept on standby.

Sam was already seated at the little table when I put in in front of him. He immediately dug in and I went to the kitchen to pull out whatever meat I would need for dinner. I settled on chicken and put it in scalding hot water to thaw it quickly. I always made dinner when I babysat. That way I could make something that I new the kids would eat and my parents wouldn’t be bothered.

A little while later my dad walked through the front door. I knew it was him by the loud squeal that Sam let out as he ran to him. Sometimes I think the kids and my dad got confused thinking that they were grandfather and grandchild. But it was adorable to watch. They treated my mom with more gentleness but I think that’s because she had a more gentle nature.

I watched as my dad swung Sam up over his shoulders and had a moment of sad nostalgia. He used to act like that with me, but one day it all changed. He had stopped acting like I was a daddy’s girl and started treating me like a little princess. I guess he never knew that I didn’t want to be a princess. He would play with me all the time and then one day just stopped.

I turned to go back into the kitchen but stopped when I noticed Gabriyel staring at me. He had a calculating look on his face, like he was trying to figure out a difficult math problem. Judging from the way he would constantly ask me questions in class I didn’t think the look was too far off.

I shrugged it off and went to pull the chicken out of the water. I didn’t get the chance to do anything with it since the door bell rung right after that. I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel and went to answer the door. I already knew who it was.

Jenn stood there smiling at me with Jack in her arms. She transferred him into my arms and gave me the diaper bag that had been over her other shoulder. She thanked me profusely, but I brushed it off. I didn’t mind watching the kids and enjoyed it almost as much as the kids themselves.

I took Jack into the living room where he and Sam had an excited jumping up and down reunion. I left them to delve into the toy box and went back into the kitchen. I wrapped some potatoes in aluminum foil and preheated the oven to make baked potatoes.

After I had the chicken seasoned and ready to go I stood back to wait. It took longer to cook the potatoes than it did the chicken so I had to time it just right so they would get done at the same time.

Brett, Gabriyel, and Sara sat at the table. It looked like they were deep in conversation so I didn’t bother them. Mom came home a couple of minutes later and greeted me with a smile before checking on the kids. I could hear them just fine and knew that they were just sitting at the table playing. Jack was just a few months younger than Sam so the only difference was vocabulary.

Then my phone started ringing. All three of the angels sitting at the table looked at me while I looked with confusion at my phone. I didn’t know the number and everyone that talked to me with any regularity were already in the house. I had no idea who it was.

“Hello?” I answered only to hear sobbing on the other end.

“Raven?” I recognized the voice.

“Lauri? What’s wrong?” I heard her take a deep breath.

I had known Lauri since my freshman year. She was a junior at the time and pregnant. She was actually the one that had gotten me started with babysitting. I would watch her daughter, Emily, so she could get caught up with her studies. Her mother refused to help her in anyway, so she had to get a full time job at the same time, to pay for the day to day baby stuff and a babysitter for when she was at school. And at work.

But Lauri had graduated and gone on to college. I had never been her regular babysitter so I hadn’t heard from her in a long time. From the sound of her the stress was starting to get to her.

“I’m sorry to bother you but I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s okay, what do you need?”

“My babysitter just quit twenty minutes before she was supposed to be here, and I have a night class in ten minutes. My teacher said that if I missed one more class he would fail me. And if I don’t pass his class I can’t get my degree on time it would take another year to get the credit I need.”

“Are you still living with your mom?”

“No she kicked me out as soon as I graduated. I got an apartment on the east side of town.” There were three apartment complexes in this town. One to the north, one to the west, and one to the east.

“I know where you are, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Oh thank you so much.” I hung up and yelled for my mom. She usually went up to change her clothes and wind down a little right after work. She came in a few seconds later as I was grabbing my keys.

“What’s wrong, Hun?”

“Can you keep an eye on the kids for a few minutes.” She looked a little confused but nodded.

“Sure, but what’s going on?”

“Do you remember Lauri and Emily?”

“Of course, she was such a cute little girl.”

“Her babysitter just quit on her and she has a night class in just a few minutes. I’m going to go pick up Emily.”

“Okay, be careful.” I nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek before rushing out the door.

I pushed the car past the speed limit a little and made it in record time. Lauri was already standing in front of her building and rushed over to her. Emily was three almost four and stood at her mom’s side.

I opened my arms to her and even though there was no way she could have remembered me she jumped up so I could carry her. Lauri handed me her bag and pulled me in for a surprise hug.

“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

“It’s okay. Do you remember where I live?” She nodded. “Okay, just go ahead and pick her up when you’re done.” She nodded again and I took a good look at her. She looked so tired I was surprised she could even stand. “Why don’t you take a little extra time. Go get a nice dinner or something before you pick her up. You look like you could use a break.” It looked like she was going to cry again, but she pulled herself together before they could leak out.

“Thank you, I think I might.” I smiled and grabbed the booster seat she still held in her hands. Emily was too big for the car seat I had. I gave her a parting smile before loading the little girl into the car.

I got home with five minutes to spare before putting the chicken in the oven. I was glad I had decided to make extra. I had no idea my night would be so busy. I sent Emily off to play with the boys. It was kind of cute. Emily was shy and quieter than I remembered her being. But the boys welcomed her by each of them giving her the toy they had been playing with.

Just as I was putting the food in the oven someone knocked on the door. My dad answered it but then immediately called for me. I slowly made my way to the door just in time to see our neighbor standing there with her little girl.

“Elizabeth?”

“Hi Raven. I know this is short notice, but my mom is in the hospital. They need me to go up and set up her paperwork.”

“Oh no, is she okay?”

“Yeah, she had a fall. I was wondering if you’d be willing to watch Carrie for a few hours?”

“Sure she’ll even have some kids to play with and dinner will be done in about a half hour.”

“Oh thank you, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Oh it’s no problem.” I waved Carrie in, she was about five so she was older than the other kids but I was sure she would still have a good time with them. Regardless this wasn’t the first time I had watched her, so she shouldn’t have any problem being comfortable. I said goodbye and showed Carrie to the other children. They were all good kids so I didn’t worry about it too much.

“Do you usually take on so many kids at once?” Gabriyel asked from the door way.

“Sometimes. It’s pretty rare though.” I walked past him and continued to work on dinner. As I had predicted it only took about a half hour.

I got all of the kids set up at the table then gave the go ahead for everyone else to grab their food. Dinner went by quietly with the exception of the times when the kids decided to carry on a conversation. When they were all done I set them up to watch some cartoons while I cleaned up a little.

I was on my way to the bathroom when I ran into Gabriyel in the hallway. He had been standing there looking at the pictures my mom had put up. Most of them were of me. Some were school pictures, others were of me growing up, but most of them I didn’t want to look at. He tilted his head slightly when he noticed me there.

“I didn’t know you were crowned Little Miss America.” I shrugged.

“I wish Mom would take those down.”

“Why? I think you looked really pretty.”

“Maybe, I just don’t like them.” I moved past him to continue what I had intended to do in the first place.

 

 

 

Gabriyel

 

 

 

After she closed the door I went back to looking at the pictures. Her features didn’t change much from when she was little to what she looks like now. They just matured instead of changing.

She was a very pretty little girl, but something changed between timed when the pictures were taken. In all of the regular ones that were just of her she had genuine smiles. Even in the school pictures. But the pageant pictures were different. There was a tension to her smiles they didn’t seem as natural, and the smiles got smaller and smaller each year. Until the last one when she didn’t smile at all.

After that even her regular day to day pictures were different. She still smiled and they were genuine, but smaller like she wasn’t as happy as she used to be. After that there were no more pictures of her with her parents. It was always just her by herself, whereas the ones in the beginning she was always with one parent or other.

I felt like I was watching her life pass but there were holes in the story. A story where a happy little girl became less and less happy when there weren’t any discernable reasons as to why. It made me curious as to who she was now, and what made her that way.

“I see you found our shrine.” I turned to see Kathleen looking at the pictures fondly.

“Yes, there are a lot of pictures.”

“Yeah, she was our only child and we wanted to remember as much as we could.” Understandable but the pictures seemed to stop when she was about fourteen.

“There don’t seem to be any recent ones.” The fond look faded, replaced by one that was part regret and part disappointment.

“I guess we just kind of slacked off on it. I love these though.” She said motioning to the pageant pictures. “Would you like to see my collection?” I nodded and she gestured for me to follow her.

We went down to the room furthest down the hall. It looked like an office slash library. But on one entire wall it was nothing but pictures. All of them were of Raven in her pageants. Some of them were in her dresses while others were of her doing different things that I didn’t fully get.

“Her talent was the batons. She used to have so much fun with them when she was a little girl.” Kathleen said as she sat in a chair that was directly in front of the pictures. It looked like she kept it there just so she could look at them. “I had always wanted a daughter. An adorable little girl that I could play dress up with, and do her makeup and hair as she got older. I had always imagined that we would stay up late talking, and she would always come to me with questions. It was unreasonable really. Raven has always been her own person and I’m proud of that.” I took a chair not far from her. I didn’t think she was looking for a conversation, it was more like a confession. “But it made me sad that she wasn’t the little princess I had dreamed of. So when she was old enough and she had gotten so good with the batons I had suggested the pageant. She didn’t object and let me plan it all. She was so good at it and won her first one. I was so excited and I thought she was happy. But eventually she decided not to do them anymore. I wish she would change her mind. Then she started coming home with bruises and refusing to tell us how she got them. The schools even called social services because they thought we were abusing her. She threw such a fit and defended us so strongly that they left and never came back. But she still came home with bruises and still wouldn’t tell us what was going on. She’s still doing it, she has a black eye and we know not to ask, because she won’t answer. I just don’t know what happened. I’m afraid I don’t even know who she is anymore. She can be so generous, you saw her with the kids. But she just doesn’t seem to want anything to do with anyone but Brett.”

“Maybe she’s just afraid that others won’t understand.” She turned to me. “She was an angel growing up as a human. There were bound to be some differences. And maybe she’s just going to through some things that she knows others won’t like so she keeps it to herself. It‘s her way of protecting others.”

“But she should know that she can talk to me about anything.” I shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter how close a child is to their parents or friends. There are still some things that you just can’t talk about. There are things that others have no way of understanding and it only causes more pain. She’s not just protecting others she’s protecting herself. Give her time she‘s still coming into her own.” She nodded and I stood as a way of excusing myself.

I was giving okay advice but I had stepped into an issue where I had no idea what I was talking about. I think what disturbed me the most was that that wall was a tribune to her pageant days. Not a single picture of Raven just being herself. It just felt fake.

I stepped into the hall to hear the squealing laughter of children. I made my way to the kitchen to see Raven come tearing around the corner with an ear to ear grin on her face. The children followed closely behind and it didn’t take long to figure out that they were chasing her. Then she spun around with a sharp ‘Ha!’ and started chasing them.

This carried on for almost twenty minutes before she collapsed onto the floor and the kids piled on top of her. She cried her surrender then got them settled in the living room to watch TV. It wasn’t long after that that the children began to get sleepy. I watched as she tenderly tucked them into cots on the floor one at a time. It was amazing to see such delicate tenderness and affection that she held for each and every child.

When she was done and the kids were asleep she grabbed her school bag and sat at the kitchen table. I sat down next to her but she just pulled out a couple of books and notebooks and started writing.

“You’re very good with them.” She glanced up then back down.

“Who?”

“The children.” She shrugged.

“Kids are easy. They’re innocent and uncomplicated. They never have a hidden agenda and they don’t know how to judge yet. It’s easy to enjoy their company, so long as you don’t want any deep conversation.” I nodded and left her to her school work. Something I was struggling with and it didn’t help my ego.

About an hour later the first of the parents showed up to pick up their little one. I believe his name was Sam. It was the guidance counselor from the school. I kept out of sight. It might have been a little awkward if he saw me in her home so late at night. They had a few moments of conversation before leaving.

It wasn’t long after that that the other parent’s showed up. I didn’t bother hiding from them. They were of no consequence. Eventually all of the children had left and she cleaned up all of the toys and cots. She went to bed and I was able to watch her without upsetting anyone. She was a mystery and I hoped to find her secret.

 

 

 

Raven

 

 

 

The two weeks passed fairly quickly. It was easier than I thought to get into a routine that included my new shadows. But I was getting restless. I could feel my energy building. Dancing and singing helped but they only prolonged the inevitable. I needed a release and soon. Which was why I ditched the stalkers and cornered Brett.

“Hey, what’s up?” Brett asked but his smile died as he took me in.

“It’s time, I need another one.” He sighed. He didn’t like my underground pass time but he understood that I needed it. So he nodded.

“Can you meet me tonight?” I nodded and tried to stop fidgeting.

The rest of the day was unbearably slow. Until finally it was time to leave the house. Sara had left for some meeting right after school so Gabriyel was the only one around besides my parents.

“Hey I’m going out with Brett tonight.” I said as I grabbed my jacket and keys. Gabriyel immediately joined me at the door and it bothered me. I didn’t want him tagging along but there was nothing I could do to stop him. My parents sighed in unison. They weren’t delusional. They knew that every time I left to hang out with Brett I came back with one injury or another.

“Do you have too?” Mom asked and I nodded. Yes, I very much needed to. So they just shook their heads and I walked out the door.

“Where are we going?” Gab asked as I started the car. I glanced over at him.

“Somewhere illegal that I don’t want my parents to know about.”

“I won’t lie to them.”

“I know, just don’t mention it. It’s complicated.” He sat quietly as I drove us past county lines. We finally got there and I led him down into the basement of an abandoned warehouse.

The crowds were as thick as they always were. The smoke was heavy and the whistles and cheers were almost deafening. Gabriyel looked around in confusion until he spotted the ring in the center of the large room. Two girls were pummeling each other, both covered in a fair amount of blood. The look of shock was expected.

I spotted Brett and Tony in the front row. Judging from the progression of the fight I had maybe five minutes. Brett had my bag and he set it on an empty chair. I took off my over shirt to reveal my tank underneath. A lot of the girls wore protective gear, mouth guards and the like. But I never did, they inhibited my concentration. He gave me my fingerless gloves with pads on the knuckles and I put them on quickly.

“You’re late!” Tony shouted over the crowds.

He was my kind of manager. He found the fights for me and got a cut of my winnings for his trouble. Personally I didn’t like him but he served his purpose. I had entered and won every tournament that they held in this place and as such I had the right to enter any fight I wanted. Anyone who beat me in anything but a forfeit got a good chunk of money. Especially if they bet on themselves.

I had just finished getting ready when the fight ended. Brett stayed quiet and never said a word since I had walked through the doors. He hated that I did this. I didn’t blame him, but at the same time I didn’t have a choice. It was either fight once every week or so or become too destructive to be allowed near anyone. My energy built to the point of breaking and a fight was the only way to fully sate it. I had tried everything else.

When they cleared the ring and announced the start of the next fight I jumped over the ropes to the ring. As soon as I appeared the crowd went wild. Most of them had witnessed my climb to fame in the underground fighting circle, and as much as it disgusted me, were my long time fans.

It truth I hated this place. I thought it was disgusting for grown men and women to support an underground fighting ring where the contestants were teenage girls. Most of whom didn’t have a choice. I had forfeited more than once and helped more than a dozen girls break away from this world. I still got post cards from some of them.

The other girl climbed through the other side, and I watched her carefully. Her trainer rubbed her shoulders and tried to give her a quiet pep talk. She seemed able but something was off about her. Then I put my finger on it. It was the fear. She was saturated in it. She didn’t want to be here and it scared her. But watching her with her trainer, he cared about her. She wasn’t being physically forced into this.

Her body was sturdy and she had well enough control. Her blonde hair was pinned back to keep it out of her way, and her gloves were a lot like mine. She was about an inch shorter than me, and by all appearances she looked like a good match. But she wasn’t. just looking at her I could pick out her weak points. Her left side was weaker than her right and when she faced off she left that side unprotected. She had very little technique.

So when the fight started I didn’t go in. I let her come to me. She swung twice but I dodged easily until I could get a good grip on her right arm. When I had a hold of her she panicked and started to flail with her left fist. I caught hold of that one too and pushed her arms down so she was defenseless and in close enough for me to talk to her over the crowd. She looked at me with so much fear I almost vomited.

“Why are you here?” She met my eyes when I spoke.

“What?”

“It’s not a hard question. Why are you here? Why do you want to fight?”

“I have too.”

“Why?”

“I…I don’t…” I sighed.

“Are you being forced?”

“N…no”

“Then why?” She took a deep breath.

“The money…I need the money.”

“Why?”

“My mom is sick, she can’t work. If I don’t come up with the money they’ll take my house.”

“And your dad?”

“He died when I was little.” I nodded and let her go. She backed up a couple of steps but stood her ground. I turned to the referee.

“I forfeit.” I had seen this particular referee several times and he just nodded.

“What! You can’t! You have to fight me, I have to win!” The girl exclaimed. I shook my head at her.

“I won’t fight you.” I jumped back over the ropes and tore my gloves off. I would have destroyed her in a fight. I had too much experience and she had no technique. She wouldn’t have lasted five minutes. The crowd booed but they could go to hell as far as I was concerned.

“What are you doing!? Get back in there I have a lot of money on you!” Tony screamed at me. Instead of answering I turned and delivered a right hook to his jaw. He was a big man and only stumbled back a few steps.

“Give me my money.” He slowly reached into his pocket and came back with a large envelop. It had almost fifty thousand in it from past winnings.

“I told you. A fair fight! An equal opponent!”

“She was fine, she…”

“She is weak! This is the first tournament she’s ever been in, I would have slaughtered her!”

“But…”

“I don’t care, those were the guidelines, you chose not to follow them. You’re fired.”

“I’m the best manager you’ve ever had!”

“If you want to keep lying to yourself fine. But do it where I don’t have to listen to your bullshit.” I snapped at him and he flustered for a minute before stomping away.

I looked over at the other girl and watched as she cried into her trainer’s shoulder. When she was finally done he grabbed her bag and she started towards me. I was right next to the only door in and out of this place. When she was close enough I grabbed her wrist and spun her into me. I put the envelop in her hand and wrapped my arm around her.

“Get out of this. It’s a dangerous world and there’s a reason why it’s illegal.” I pulled back and she stared at me in shock before looking down at the envelop. She opened it just enough to peak inside and the shock doubled as tears filled her eyes again. She lurched and hugged me this time. She squeezed as hard as she could and I could feel her body shaking. Finally she let go and ran for the exit as fast she could hiding the envelop.

I turned to Brett as he watched her run out of the building. When he turned to me he swallowed hard. He knew what was coming. I had no anger towards him. He was what was considered my handler. His job was to keep me safe not pick my fights.

“Two weeks Brett. It’s been two weeks. I need a fight.” He nodded.

“Come on, I’ll call the boys on the way.” I nodded this time and signaled for Gabriyel to follow me out. He hadn’t said a single word since we had pulled into the parking lot.

Chapter 4

Gabriyel

 

 

The drive was silent. I was still in a mild form of shock. Raven voluntarily participated underground fights. It explained her bruises and why she wouldn’t tell anyone how she got them. In a way it kind of helped me to understand her more. I just needed to find out why she did it.

“Where are we going?” I asked softly. She didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.

“Brett’s house.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

It wasn’t long before she turned down a dirt road. It was maybe another five minutes before I saw a large house. It had to be at least two stories and there were maybe five cars in the driveway. Only one of them I recognized as Brett’s. To be honest I was surprised when I found out that the council allowed him to live as a human for his charge, and I hoped that I could figure out why. I was a high member of the council but for the last couple hundred years I had taken some time to do other jobs.

I followed her into the house and it was well lit but there wasn’t anyone in sight. So I continued to follow her as she went down to the basement. There were five angels down there without shirts on. All of them were male and all of them were pure. And all of them stared at me with tense expressions. I couldn’t blame them. I was typically the one that administered punishments to angels that broke the rules.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just here to watch me.” Raven said as she took off her over shirt to show a very small very revealing shirt underneath. None of the other males looked at her differently and I felt a little slow. It was obvious that they’ve all done this more than once. I only wished I new what this was.

The basement was finished and housed a pool table and full entertainment center on one side of a wall. Raven walked around the wall and I followed. It was a very large area that was a fully equipped training room. She stood in the very center of the room and Brett stood a few feet away facing her.

Then it was like someone flipped a switch and he lunged at her only for her to repel him. He swung at her over and over again, and with each swing she dodged. Finally she stopped dodging him and met him blow for blow. She landed more hits than she took until finally he was breathing hard and holding his side. But she stood as if she weren’t even fazed. Her breathing was regular and she wasn’t even sweating. Brett moved off the floor and tagged one of the other males. I think I heard one of them say his name was Eric.

His fight with her seemed much the same as Brett’s only with somewhat different moves. And it ended the same way. His retreating, hurt, and another taking his place. This one was named Jason.

He had some better technique, using his legs just as much as his arms, but he still lost. It kept going like that until the last male was on the floor. Literally she had knocked him on his ass. I could feel her frustration.

“Come on! What is wrong with all of you, you used to be challenging.”

“We just can’t keep up with you anymore.” Brett said softly. She growled in frustration and I took my shirt off. She needed a good fight. It had been a long time since I had indulged, but my memory was still good and my muscles could use the work out anyway.

When I took the last guy’s place I got several looks. But I was more focused on her. She gave a smirk, but I could see the heat in her eyes. It was then that I understood. This wasn’t just something that she liked to do. She did this because she had too. It was part of her central being, something she couldn’t just not do. It was part of who she was, part of her purpose. She was a warrior.

“Sure you want to risk that pretty face of yours?” She asked as we circled each other.

“If you’re willing to risk your’s I suppose I could do the same.” She gave a low chuckle before I tried to take her off guard.

She blocked my left handed swing with ease and countered with her own. She was strong and confident. When I had loosened up our fight turned into a dance. One she was very good at. It had been centuries since I had had a particularly good fight. In fact she may have given me the best I had ever had.

Finally, she reached out with a kick using her right foot and connected with my chest. I flew into the wall behind me but landed on my feet. I came back with left spinning kick that landed right in the middle of her stomach. She gave an oomph but never slowed. She swung with her weight and I had a hard time blocking each blow as it came but I finally managed to get a grip on her right arm, pulling her into me. But she spun instead of losing her balance as I had hoped, and instead of me being able to trap her she used my own momentum to send me sailing over her shoulder. I landed flat on my back, but reached up and grabbed her leg, pulling her down next to me.

We laid there for a few minutes breathing heavily, until she looked over at me and started laughing. We were both sweating, but I had never felt so satisfied in my life. And looking at her it seemed her need was sated as well.

“You two look like you just got done having sex.” We both looked up to see who had spoken. It was the male, Jason. Brett stood right next to him and the others were emerging from the other room. It sounded like they were doing something on the TV in there. I guess our fight had lasted longer than I thought.

“Sex couldn’t have been any better than that.” Raven replied and laid her head back down on the floor.

“You’d be surprised.” She looked over at me in surprise, and to be honest I had surprised myself. I hadn’t meant to say it aloud. Then she started laughing and stood. When she was standing over me she reached down to help me up.

I took her offered hand, but couldn’t get the picture of her laying under me right after a fight, out of my head. Moving her body with mine as her grunts of pain turned to moans of pleasure. For some reason all I could do was imagine us putting that same passion and energy into a night of intimacy. I tried to shake it but it lasted a good hour or so.

Imprint

Images: This cover was found on google images and is listed with the website - eleni-konstantine.blogspot.com posted by Eleni Konstantine.
Publication Date: 12-18-2013

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