Milayna's Angel

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “What?” I snapped.

  “He’s here.” Friendly’s usual bubbly behavior was subdued.

  “Who’s here?”

  “The one who will kill you,” Scarface said with a deformed smile.

  3

  The Promise

  “What are we doing?”

  Chay smiled. “I dunno.”

  We were in chemistry, waiting for class to start. “I’m not going if you don’t tell me what we’re doing.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” He grinned.

  “Depends,” I said slowly.

  “On?”

  “What we’re doing.”

  He laughed, and I glared at him. We had a date the next day. A secret date. At least, it was a secret to me.

  “You’ll like it. I promise.” He drew a cross over his heart with his finger.

  Chay leaned over and grazed his lips gently against mine. The room fell away, and I was lost in him. I didn’t hear the other students talking, the rustling of papers, or the slamming of books on tables. I didn’t feel the eyes of others watching us. Blocking it all out, I focused on Chay and how the feel of his lips moving against mine made my insides tickle.

  Then I felt it. I ignored the first one. By the third kick, I was pissed. I pulled away from Chay and swung my head in Xavier’s direction.

  “What?” I bit out, out of breath from Chay’s kiss.

  “Sorry. I just wanted to make sure we were still on for lunch today.”

  He had to interrupt my kiss to ask about lunch? What the heck?

  “I guess so.”

  “Good.” Xavier smiled and started leafing through his chemistry book. I stared at him.

  Chay cupped my cheek. He pulled my face around to him and kissed me softly, trailing his lips to my ear. “He’s jealous,” he murmured.

  “He’s starting to irritate me.”

  Chay laughed. “Good.”

  Xavier kicked the bottom of my seat three more times during the class period. Each time, he handed me a folded piece of paper with a note scrawled across it. Finally, growing tired of the game, Chay grabbed the last one, wadded it up, and threw it back at Xavier. I heard a faint chuckle behind me. Next to me, I heard a curse.

  ***

  I heard the sounds first. Then, my vision started zoning in and out. It narrowed into a circle, becoming smaller and smaller until it was as if I was looking through a periscope. The sides were like static on a television.

  My stomach burned. It felt like it was squeezed in a vice, and someone was cranking and cranking the handle until they couldn’t tighten it anymore. I leaned over in pain, my arms wrapped around my middle. A vision. I hated having them at school.

  Me. Wait, I don’t see visions about myself. But that’s what I see—me.

  I shook my head to erase the image. It was as though I was looking at my reflection in a mirror. My palms grew sweaty and it was hard to breathe, like something heavy was sitting on my chest.

  Me talking. I can’t hear what I’m saying. I can’t see who I’m talking to. I back up, holding my hands out, palms first as if in surrender, holding someone off.

  My head pounded in time to my heartbeat, the blood rushing so loudly behind my ears I couldn’t hear the noise of the other students in the hall. They bumped into me, jostled me, pushing me out of the way. I stood in the middle of the hall, concentrating on the vision. They always told me something. There was a reason I was having a vision about myself. I just needed to concentrate and let the vision tell me what I needed to know, what I needed to do.

  I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, and I jumped. I looked up expecting—wanting—to see Chay. It was Xavier’s face that looked down at me with questioning eyes.

  “Are you okay?” He gave my shoulder a small squeeze.

  “Yeah. What?” I pushed the images away and locked them in my brain. I’d worry about the vision later, when I had time to concentrate on what I saw and decipher it.

  “It’s like you zoned out. You’re just standing here, doing nothing. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just tired is all. Ready for class?”

  “Sure,” Xavier said, looking into my eyes like he could read all my secrets.

  “Let’s go then. It’s weekly torture day.” I took a step away from him so his hand would fall from my shoulder.

  “Huh?” He looked at me in confusion.

  “The test. Our weekly torture.”

  “You mean we have a history test every Friday?” A look of horror marred his gorgeous face.

  Whoa, gorgeous? I shouldn’t be thinking that. I shouldn’t be noticing at all.

  I nodded. “Yes. In calculus, too. Every Friday.”

  “Great. Weekly tests. This school just gets better and better. Where’s Chay?”

  “He had to get to his next class early.”

  “So you’re forced to carry your own books,” Xavier said with a smile.

  “Mm-hmm. They’re heavy, too.”

  Before I could stop him, Xavier slipped my book bag off my shoulder and swung it over his.

  “No, no, that’s okay. I didn’t mean for you to carry them.” I reached for my bag.

  “I got ‘em. Let’s go get the test over with.”

  I turned to follow Xavier to class. I saw Chay watching us from the end of the hall.

  Great. This isn’t gonna make Chay jealous. Nope, not at all.

  ***

  Chay picked me up at four Saturday afternoon. He still hadn’t told me where we were going. We stopped at a little café by the Waterway to have lunch, sitting at a small table overlooking the river. The ice was just starting to thaw from the harsh Michigan winter, and we could see patches of deep blue water peeking through.

  The sun was big and bright in the baby blue sky. Lazy, fluffy white clouds floated by. It was deceiving, though. It looked like a mild day, until you went outdoors and the brutal cold stole your breath. I hoped whatever Chay had planned was inside.

  I was thankful our table was close to the café’s stone, floor-to-ceiling fireplace, where a small fire burned. The sound of the crackling wood and the dry warmth of the fire relaxed me, and I didn’t want to leave when we’d finished eating.

  “So? What are we doing today?” I asked for the millionth time after we left and got in the car.

  “You’ll see,” he answered for the millionth and one time, driving to the mystery destination.

  I peered out the window when we pulled into the zoo’s parking lot and drove to the garden’s entrance. “Ice skating?”

  The zoo had a small ice rink in the middle of the gardens. Large pines draped in colored lights surrounded the rink. The days were still short and when we reached the ice rink, dusk was already settling in. The lights made the scene look magical. The colors reflected off the ice, creating multi-colored crystals.

  “Here.” Chay handed me thick mittens and a scarf. “Your mom helped me sneak these out for you.”

  “But you hate ice skating.” I’d been asking him to go with me all winter, and his answer was always the same: I hate ice skating. It’s too cold to go sliding around on my butt on an overgrown ice cube.

  “Yeah, but you like it and I love you. So I want to take you ice skating.”

  I pulled him to me and kissed him. He was a romantic at heart, even if he was moody and occasionally intolerable.

  When I pulled back from our kiss, I caressed his cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah, well, just remember this day when I want to go to a football game.”

  I laughed. “Deal. Let’s go.”

  Chay was right. He did spend most of the time sliding around on his butt. I spent the time giggling at him as I glided across the ice. I loved to skate. Even the cold night didn’t bother me. It was so beautiful. The trees surrounding the ice, the lights, Chay… there wasn’t anything any better. Or so I thought.

  He slid to me on one knee, grabbing my hand.

  “I wanted to do this on one knee, but I’d hoped to
be standing first.” One side of his mouth tipped up in a half grin.

  He pulled my mitten off and kissed my hand before sliding a gold band on my ring finger, engraved with our names, one on each side of a small diamond.

  I stared at it, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. I had no idea what to say. Was he asking me to marry him? I wasn’t ready. I loved him, but…

  “Milayna, I want you to wear this. I promise to love you with all my heart. I’ll be yours, and only yours, as long as you’ll have me. This ring is a reminder of that promise.”

  I was speechless. I knew I should say something, but I couldn’t get my mouth and brain to work together. I stared at the ring, then looked at Chay, then looked at the ring again.

  Tears sprang to my eyes, and I pulled him up to me. I framed his face with my hands and kissed him, my warm, salty tears falling on our lips. “I love you,” I whispered.

  “Does that mean you’ll wear my ring?”

  “That means I’ll never take it off my finger.”

  Smiling broadly, he held out my mitten for me to put on. Taking it from his hand, I stuffed it in my pocket.

  “Your hand will freeze,” he said, frowning.

  “Nah. Besides, I want to watch the lights sparkle off my ring. Look at it.” I held my hand out, moving it slightly so the diamond would catch the lights. Streaks of colored fire burst from the stone. “It’s more beautiful than the stars in the sky,” I said quietly.

  “Don’t go getting all sappy. It’s just a ring.” He tried to play it cool, but I could tell he was holding back a smile.

  “Don’t ruin the moment, Chay. You manage so few good ones.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I love it.”

  “You know what this means, right?”

  “What?” I was still admiring my ring.

  “You’re mine.”

  I dropped my hand and looked into his eyes. “Chay, I’ve always been yours.”

  He smiled and lowered his lips to mine.

  ***

  When Chay took me home that night, I showed my parents the ring. I was nervous about what they’d think. Chay made it clear it wasn’t an engagement ring—we were both too young for that. But it was a commitment ring, almost like a pre-engagement ring. Or something like that. I didn’t know, really. I just knew it was his ring and he wanted me to wear it. So I did. And I loved it.

  “It’s beautiful, Milayna,” my mother said, smiling. She held my hand out and moved it slightly so the stone would catch the light. “The diamond is so clear and sparkly.”

  My dad slapped Chay on the back and tried to work up a glare, but he laughed instead. “I told you there was nothing to be nervous about. She loves it,” he said.

  “Wait, you knew?” I asked, looking between the three of them.

  “Of course we knew. Chay asked for our blessing days ago.” My dad gave Chay’s shoulder a small squeeze before walking toward the kitchen whistling.

  ***

  Chay and I spent all of Sunday together. First, we had breakfast with Chay’s parents. I showed them my ring. His mother gushed over it. Of course, they already knew. Chay asked them for advice before going to my parents. But it was fun showing it off, even to people who’d already seen it. They hadn’t seen it on my finger, and that made all the difference. A ring in a box was just a ring. A ring on a finger was a symbol of love. Or something ooey, gooey like that. My head was full of all kinds of mush. I couldn’t get the silly grin off my face.

  After breakfast with Chay’s parents, we spent the afternoon doing homework before having dinner with my parents and brother. It was a wonderful weekend… until they arrived.

  “We have visitors,” my dad told me.

  “Who?”

  “I’ll give you one guess. They’re waiting for you on the swing set.”

  “Damn hobgoblins,” Chay muttered.

  I grabbed a quilt, and we walked outside. Sitting on the swing on the back deck, we watched the goblins climb on the swing set and run through the backyard playing in the snow.

  “They seem to like the snow.” They made snowballs and threw them into the air.

  “Yeah. I don’t imagine they have much of it where they come from.”

  I giggled. “Nope, probably not.”

  Wrapped in a thick quilt, Chay and I swayed on the deck swing and talked while the hobgoblins entertained themselves. It was over an hour before they were ready to tell us why they were there.

  “We want to see it, too,” Friendly said in his high-pitched voice. He sounded like a little girl. I thought about chasing him down. It would be fun to put him in frilly dresses and tie bows in his hair.

  Chay elbowed me in the side.

  “What?”

  “Your ring. Show me,” Friendly said again.

  I hesitated. If they knew about my ring, it meant Azazel was watching us. I held my hand up and showed him.

  “It’s pretty.” He smiled and reached out with one sausage-like finger to touch it.

  I pulled my hand back before he could touch me. “Thank you.”

  “Too bad it’ll be wasted,” Scarface grumbled.

  “What do you mean?” Chay stretched his arm out in front of me and nudged me behind his shoulder.

  “He’s here for her. It won’t be long now.”

  “Who? Azazel?”

  “No! I told you already it isn’t Azazel,” Scarface snapped. “This one has more power than Azazel. He’s here for you, Milayna. Your time is running short.”

  Images flashed before my eyes. I saw myself in the vision. I was talking to someone, like I’d seen in my vision at school. And like before, I couldn’t hear what I was saying, but I was talking fast, my hands gesturing quickly around me before I held them out in front of me. It looked like I was trying to hold someone back, keep them away.

  Then the vision changed. I was seeing myself through someone else’s eyes. They looked down. I could see a knife in their hand. No, a dagger, like the one I had. The only thing that could kill demons. They lifted their arm above me, the dagger pointing toward me. I saw a soundless scream on my lips just before the dagger plunged downward.

  “Oh!” I stood so quickly Chay had to hold on to the swing to keep from falling off.

  “What’s the matter?” Chay asked. “A vision?”

  “Yeah.” It was gone. I didn’t see where the knife went, but if the vision was any indication… it had gone into me.

  I looked at Scarface. He smirked at me before disappearing back to the underworld where he belonged.

  4

  Threats

  “I can’t believe he gave you a ring!” Muriel squealed when I showed her Monday morning. “Have you set a date yet? I think spring, right after graduation—”

  “It’s not an engagement ring, Muriel. It’s a promise ring.” I moved to the side of the hall so a boy could pass.

  “Yeah, a promise to get engaged,” she said, following me.

  I rolled my eyes. “No, just a promise to be… I don’t know… committed. Think of it as a commitment ring.” I was trying to get her mind off weddings because I so wasn’t ready for that yet. I didn’t even know what college I wanted to go to or what I was going to major in. No, a wedding was not what I needed.

  “Well, whatever it is, he has good taste. It’s really pretty, Milayna.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Xavier said, stopping next to us in the hall. “Too bad.”

  Muriel raised an eyebrow. I shrugged in answer. I had no idea what he meant, and I didn’t care. I was flying high, still reeling from the magic of Saturday night. Xavier and his seat kicking weren’t going to spoil it.

  I looked over my shoulder at him. “What’s too bad?”

  He shrugged. “You’re officially off the market.”

  “I was never on the market.”

  “Hmm.” He passed me and leaned against the classroom’s door frame.

  “I’ll see you in calc.” Muriel left with a wave in my direction, but
I had a feeling it was more for Xavier than it was for me. She was officially a member of the Xavier fan club, as were most girls at school.

  I walked into my classroom and sat down. I felt him kick my seat. When I didn’t turn around, he kicked it twice.

  “I know you can feel that.” He gave my seat another kick to make his point.

  “Yeah, and it bugs the crap outta me.”

  He laughed. He had a great laugh, and I cursed myself for noticing. I wasn’t supposed to notice things like that about other guys. He kicked the bottom of my seat again.

  “What?” I snapped so loud that most of the class turned and looked at us.

  “So when’s the wedding?” Xavier leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. His broad chest pushed out toward me. His T-shirt strained over his body, showing enough for everyone to get a good idea of the awesomeness that lay beneath. My mouth went dry.

  “There isn’t one. It isn’t an engagement ring.”

  “Looks like one.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not.”

  “So there’s still hope,” His lips twitched into a small grin.

  I sighed and looked at him. “Hope for what?”

  “Me.”

  “Nope. You’re fresh outta hope,” I turned my back to him.

  I looked up and saw Chay standing next to the table, staring at Xavier. His blue-green eyes swirled with anger.

  “Hey, handsome.” I tugged on the sleeve of his suede jacket.

  He glared at Xavier a few beats before he looked down at me and smiled. “Hey, beautiful.” He leaned down and kissed me—a wet, lip-smacking, toe-curling, tongue-dancing kiss. When he stood up, he looked at Xavier and smirked.

  “Sit down, Chay,” He slid in the chair next to me, leaning over to kiss me again. “I thought we ended the jealous boyfriend routine,” I whispered.