by Pia Philip
“Wow,” she finally said once Alex had finished. That was all she said for what seemed ages, “Wow.”
“Anything more helpful than ‘wow’ maybe,” Alex urged. She never was one with patience.
“Well, no, your dad more or else covered everything, he knew more than me but from what I do know he told you already,” she confessed, “The rest is in the Crolonian.”
“That’s it, nothing more?” She asked crestfallen.
“Well, the rest you’ll find out by yourself,” She smiled, “Let’s just say, you better keep a cap on that temper of yours.”
“I do not have a temper,” Alex argued, what did she mean?, the rest I’ll find out by herself.
“What you find out could save you or destroy you, we do not know,” Martha added as she too smiled. The only other person that was as confused as her was Sam.
“What are you on about?” he asked.
“Do you know what the difference between Angels and humans are?” Max asked, “Apart from our superior intelligence.”
“You have wings?” she guessed but got ignored.
“We have a more complex Brain structure than the average person,” He explained, “The cerebrum sector of our brain is highly developed. However not everyone is as developed as each other. For example, Martha has the most developed Occipital Lobe, which is associated with visual processing.”
“Which is why I’m a psychic,” Martha added, “However, everything else is average.”
“Oh, so you tend to have supernatural abilities,” Alex guessed.
“No, not most of us, that is very rare and is mostly found in Dark Angels because their bodies have more resistance.”
“More resistance?” Sam asked in amusement.
“Yes, to be able to harness such powers, more or less all sections of your brain half to be highly developed or it’ll just drain you from your mana ,” Martha explained.
“So what about me?” She asked as she tried to comprehend this, “I’m half of both, right?”
“Well yes, but yours is a very special case, you’re the first to actually live this long.” Max said. Martha instantly jabbed him in his stomach.
“What do you mean, the first to actually live this long,” Alex asked as she locked onto what Max had just said. It was obvious she wasn’t supposed to know that. It was the key that she needed, and now that she had it, it unlocked several questions.
“Why am I being protected if I’m an abomination?” she asked.
“Well if we didn’t protect you, the Dark Angels could use you,” Max replied, ignoring Martha’s and my mums glares. She could actually learn to tolerate him if he kept talking so freely.
“So why don’t you just kill me, wouldn’t that solve everything?” she asked, the seed of suspicion had been planted.
“Well…” Max seemed suddenly uncomfortable.
“They tried,” Her mum said, “But they failed.
“Wait- hang on a moment,” Alex cried as panic took over and she backed away from the group of people in the room, “I’m being hunted by both sides. Why wasn’t I told of this?”
“Because they failed,” her mum said reassuringly, “Angels can’t destroy Angels without any crime, even if they are part Dark.”
“Good.” she said as relief washed over her
“Anyway, now that we’ve got that out the way, we might as well think up your extra Lesson router for the next month or so.,” Martha said. “She should be able to stay over here at least twice a week,”
“Wait-what?” Alex asked alarmed. She had heard the words extra lessons and month and everything else was forgotten.” I don’t need extra lessons.”
“You need all the extra lessons you can get hold of,” Max sneered, “You’re seriously thick.”
She sent him her most deadly death glare secretly hoping something would drop on his head. Unfortunately her prayers were futile. She could not wait till they leave; she couldn’t stand being in the same room as him for more than necessary. That was when she remembered what Martha had added.
“Wait a moment! Why do I have to stay here? I like my house,” she cried, “Its Max free!”
“I was going to ask that, except in a more polite manner,” her mum said as she gave her a disapproving look.
“Well, Alexis will have to be under constant supervision because she has already come close to being taken,” Martha explained, “Twice. So it only makes sense that she stays over here sometimes too, especially the days were your working night shift.”
“Do I not get a say in this?” she asked in disbelief, her life was getting planned out for her and she wasn’t allowed a say in sideways. “I mean Sam will be with me 24/7 anyway, Emma as well.”
“Well yes, but we need someone who is able to stop them if they seriously decide to attack,” Max said, “And a sewer rat isn’t really that helpful.”
“Max, is right, not about the sewer rat but the need of someone able to stop you getting hurt if they decide to attack,” Martha explained, “Which is why Max will be with you, Max and Sam, One to protect one to drag you from Danger.”
“And from what I’ve picked up in the short time I’ve been around you teens, I don’t think Max and Alex alone will end up good,” her mum added. She didn’t like Max anymore that Alex.
“I am not going to be stuck around this idiot for a month, no way,” Max protested, “It could seriously decrease my IQ”
“Max!” Martha said sharply before turning back to Alex, “Whenever your mums working overnight, you will be staying over here but try and not to stray from Sam and Max that means you have to start bonding.”
“How?” Sam asked, “In case you haven’t noticed we don’t get on, and no matter how much we bond there’s no guarantee that this little miss will tell us anything.”
“Well excuse me for caring about your feelings,” she muttered.
“Not telling me something important is not caring about my feelings, it just leaves me worried incase it’s something big because I’m finding it hard to believe everything you tell me now, so why don’t you just tell-“Sam began. Alex stood and marched out of the sitting room and into the restroom then. She knew what Sam said was true but she couldn’t help it, the fact that he has to give up so many things for her safety was not doing anything for her conscious. She sprayed water on her face. She guessed the only thing that could solve this was if she could remember any kind of detail that would prove valuable.
“Alison, Alexis, Alison…your mine…comes…out…”
Alex turned around looking for the kid but no one was there. However, she could feel him close, really close. She turned back around slowly and standing a meter from her was the kid and in his hand was a machine of some kind. All she knew was that it was trouble. She turned around and bolted out of the room screaming at the top of her lungs. She turned the corner and collided with Sam and Max.
“What is it now-“Max began but got cut short when a bullet shot past his shoulder, “Crap!”
Their parents were by now out of the sitting room and were opening the door. They struggled to dodge the bullets being blasted at them as they bolted out of the door. All five of them turned the corner and bolted towards the cathedral.
“We need you three to do us a big favor,” her mum shouted as she ran behind them “Don’t get killed.”
“What do you think we’re trying to do?” Alex cried, “Use your brain women!”
“Don’t talk smack to me Alex!” she scolded as they ran into the hall. That was when she realized Martha was holding the Crolonian, she quickly wrapped it around in a grey cloth and shoved it into Sam’s arm. She searched her pocket and handed Max her purse and gave a small nod.
“What’s all this for,” Alex asked suddenly worried.
“We’re going to send you to the Angel world by opening a door. Inside the purse is a tracking ring that one of you should wear so that when the coast is clear we can come get you.” her mum explained as she took off her neckl
ace, “This is for you Alex. Never take this off and please try to keep your symbol hidden, okay, no one should know of it.”
“Why, what about you two?” Max asked, he was as panicked as Alex but he got ignored as Martha and her mum said some mumbo jumbo that opened a rip in the atmosphere. They shoved them towards it just as the door got blew off its hinges and the kid came in. It had gathered accomplices. Max climbed through followed by Sam who grabbed Alex’s hand and pulled her with him.
“Now stay out of trouble, will you,” her mum cried. The last thing Alex saw was the kid fire the gun in her mum’s direction.
“MUUUMMMM!” She screamed as she was pulled through the portal.
Chapter 7
Alex was still screaming when they landed in the Angel world. Thankfully, however they landed in the outskirts of a town. Tears ran down her face as she tried to run back through to help her mother. What if she had got hit? Her brain kept thinking up the worst scenarios. Sam grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back.
“Let go of me!” she cried as she kicked and screamed trying to free herself from his iron grip.
“No, Alex, stop!” Sam cried as he tightened his grip around her. He finally managed to drag her away from the portal just as it closed. They tumbled down the hill they were on and landed in a messy heap of arms and legs. “Your mum sent you here for your safety and she said she’ll come and get you when it’s safe to return.”
“Yes, your mum was The Angel you know, give her some credit,” Max added as he joined them. Alex knew he was right and she tried to calm herself down with no avail.
“Well, now what do we do?” she asked, “They sent us to a world we know nothing about, we don’t have a place to shelter, and we don’t have any means to survive. If the kid doesn’t get us, we’ll just die of starvation. Wow such an amazing plan!”
Her voice was dripping with sarcasm; she tended to turn to sarcasm whenever she gets severely panicked.
“You forget that I lived here for most of my life, so I know the rules of life here and Martha did give us money to buy food,” Max injected.
“And shelter?” She asked, “Will we be going to your house or something?”
“Yeah although it is really far away, and I mean really far away from here,” He said, “It could take us up to three weeks in the state we are right now, and who knows the danger could’ve been over by then although I doubt it, and I also doubt that we’ll be safe over here.”
He muttered the last part quietly that Alex almost did not catch it.
“What do you mean, you doubt that we’ll be safe here?” she asked alarmed, “I thought Angels couldn’t Kill Angels.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t harm us, and whoever said Angels were the only beings here.” Max explain, “Every other creature can kill us, however, we rarely interact but since we don’t have appropriate transportation, we’re going to have to walk through places marked, ‘Certain death’”
“Sounds fun,” Sam grimaced as he picked up the Crolonian that he had dropped when he grabbed her. “Let’s just get this over with and get going.”
“Yeah, if it’s as long as you say, we should get going, which way is it?” Alex asked as she put on the necklace her mother gave her
“It’s through the city, but I think we should wait till dark,” Max said as he eyed up what they were wearing, “or we might just end up in some serious trouble.”
“Why?” Sam asked as he frowned at Max’s attitude.
“Well for one, you’re a human,” Max said as he motioned towards Sam, “you’ve got ‘The’ mark on your bare arm wearing nothing but a vest-top, we don’t look like anyone from around here, and both of you probably don’t know how to defend yourselves and-“
“Okay, we get it, lets’ just get going,” Sam muttered as he led the way towards the city.
They walked around in the shadows until sunset before gathering enough courage to walk onto Main Street and into the town square.
“We better deal with the biggest issues first,” Max sighed as he ran up to a closing stall coming back a few minutes later with a basket full of food and a long piece of cloth. Without saying anything he took her arm and wrapped the cloth around the mark like a bandage.
“That will stop people from asking questions.”
They walked pretty fast and tried to avoid as many people as they could but Alex felt weird seeing everyone dressed in such a stereotypical way. Then there was them. She stayed firmly behind Sam who looked pretty normal considering he was only wearing a white t-shirt and shorts. After a few hours they reached the city halls but the only way out of the city was through hundreds of Angels. Just their luck.
“Is this normal?” She asked as she eyed the crowd of people in-front of them, “What’s so interesting anyway.”
They crept closer trying to see what the commotion was about, in the end they ended up dropping their guard as they shoved past people to get to the front. As she finally managed to break through to the front she saw that there was a stage. On the stage stood the single most foreboding person she had ever seen. A man of no less than 6ft with chestnut brown hair with the occasional grey streak through it and hard wrinkles set deep on his weathered face. You could tell that he was old but he commanded a sense of power of that of a thousand politicians.
“Silence...” He said. He didn’t have to shout he just spoke and everyone went quiet. You could hear a pin drop. No one dared to breathe loudly.
“I have some rather upsetting news to announce,” He continued when not a sound could be heard. Even the wind was scared to blow, “Several demons have…changed their position in where they stand in the cold war between our world and that of the Dark side. They have begun attacking several towns around this area and we have come to warn you that this might be their next target. I would severally suggest that you make travel preparations and get out of here.”
There were several gasps and muttering broke out through the crowd, but they stopped when he put his hands up.
“We do not know if this is there declaration of war on us, or if it’s just a group of demons who thought to take things into their hand and all we can do for the time being is to defend ourselves. We, the High Council are forbidding anyone to go up against the Dark side alone if you want to help join the army against the darkness that plagues the world we live in.” he explained.
“High Council?” She whispered to Sam. That peaked Alex’s interest, she had heard of the Council but didn’t really know much about them, but the High Council, and she guessed that it was composed of High Angels and beings.
“Yes, High Council, that is a direct order from the High Council, but do not be fooled we are not going to just wait idly by for the declaration of war,” he said as he looked his gaze on Alex, no expression visible in his face or eyes. She’d been told that you could see someone’s soul through their eyes, like a window, but she couldn’t see anything in him. He was like an empty void. “We believe that the War declaration will come soon, so we are going to start recruiting for help, so we would be ready if the day comes, if you have any experience in the battlefield please speak to the minotaur’s located at the doors of city halls however we are looking for species of middle to high class so please keep that in mind.”
With that he walked off the stage and into the city halls closing the door firmly behind him. The moments the doors clamped shut, the crowd started talking in a panicked fashion, and it was obvious that by this time tomorrow, this town would be nothing more than a ghost town. She shuffled her way back to her little group.
“Well thank god were leaving today, at least this way we’ll blend in completely,” Max said as he pulled back into the shadows.
“Who was that?” Sam asked as he glanced back at the locked door.
“That was Giorgio Alexander,” Max said as he risked a glance at the door before going deeper into the depths of the night.
“Although we’re both High Angels, he holds one of the bes
t positions in the Council and has recently been moved up to High Council,” Max said clearly intimidated by Giorgio, “The guy scares the pants off almost everyone in the council apart from the top three.”
“I can see why,” Alex said as she remembered his eyes, void of all emotion.
“Let’s get going, but I think we should get you changed,” Sam said as he smirked at the way she stood out from the rest of the people.
“You too! I am a girl!” Alex cried annoyed at their insensitivity, “you should be more careful of what you say, I’m sensitive and could take things any way!”
“You? sensitive!” Sam snorted.
“If it weren’t for certain features, I wouldn’t have thought you a girl,” Max smirked.
Alex scowled and stepped on both their feet’s before crossing her arms and sticking her chin up with an air of defiance.
“Just give me the clothes,” she growled as she grabbed a white dress from the basket and went round a corner and behind a bin to get ready. She kept her eyes focused on the corner that she didn’t bother looking behind her. She pulled her dress into place and was about to pick up her shirt seeing as she decided to keep her shorts on, when a sudden chill ran down her spine. She didn’t even need to turn around to know that something nasty was behind her but her body did anyway. She slowly spun around to see the kid, but that wasn’t what scared her. She was used to it by now. No, what gave her the creeps was what was behind him. It had a lion’s body and a tail that ended in a snakes face and it also had a goats head. It looked so fascinating but it poured fear into you through every single pore in your body and straight into your soul. with one single look. Looking at the eyes just made you want to gouge out your eyeballs. She opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs. It was so high pitched she wasn’t sure if anyone could hear it, she spun round and started running for her life screaming all the way. At first, she got given strange looks that was until they saw what was chasing her. she was sure she had read about a creature like this before in her classical studies class, she thought it was called a chimera and if she remembered correctly it could shoot flames, not that she was planning on staying to find out.
