Milayna's Angel

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “I think I’d better go before I give your dad a reason to kick me in the ass.”

  “Yeah. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “I can’t wait.” He smiled at me then. With one last kiss, he turned and walked to his car, swinging his keys around his fingers.

  ***

  Chay jumped the back fence and walked to the patio table where I was sitting, elbow on the table, chin resting in my hand.

  “How long have they been here?”

  “Oh, about an hour,” I said.

  “Have they said anything?” Chay straddled a chair next to me.

  “Other than singing in their weird little language, nothing.”

  “Well, I guess all we can do is wait until they get tired of playing around and tell us what they’re doing here. Wanna make out while we wait?”

  “Sure.” I angled my body toward him.

  He framed my face with his hands and leaned in for a kiss.

  “Eh, really? You’re gonna do that now?” Scarface said, disgusted.

  “Now? They pick now to talk. Classic.” Chay dropped his arms and leaned back.

  I smiled at him and shrugged a shoulder. “There’s always when they leave.”

  “Not if you leave with us,” Friendly said in his, well, friendly tone.

  “Not gonna happen.” I shook my head.

  Why do they keep asking? I didn’t side with Azazel three months ago, and I’m not going to now. Geez, do they not know the definition of the word ‘no’?

  “By the time his plan is finished, you’ll be begging to side with us. Things are getting fun now.” Scarface smiled his grotesque, deformed smile and disappeared.

  Friendly ran through the yard one last time, picking up snow and throwing it up in the air before he disappeared in a small puff of white smoke.

  “Interesting.” Chay tapped his finger on the patio table. “I never thought I’d say this, but it kinda kills the mood.”

  “I know, right?” I laughed.

  He turned to face me. Leaning in, I thought he meant to kiss me. He ran his finger lightly down the side of my face and smiled. It didn’t quite meet his eyes. There I saw worry, maybe sadness. “Whatever this is, it’ll work out, Milayna.”

  That’s the second time he’s said that. Is he trying to convince me or himself?

  “I know.” I shivered as his finger glided down my skin.

  “I need to go. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

  “‘Kay.”

  He gave me a quick kiss and jumped the back fence, trotting across the neighbors’ lawns to his yard.

  He’s in trouble if they ever get a dog.

  ***

  Chay was getting pops from the vending machines. I was sitting at the lunch table alone, surprised I was allowed. Since our meeting Wednesday, the group had been fanatical about making sure no one was alone. Ever. Me in particular since the threats, once again, seemed to center around me. I guess I was popular in the underworld. It wasn’t the kind of popularity I was looking for. Demons for friends? No thanks.

  I felt the bench move and smelled unfamiliar cologne next to me. I stiffened. Turning slowly, I let out an irritated sigh. Xavier.

  “Don’t sneak up on people like that,” I said, annoyed.

  I was getting tired of him sitting with us every lunch period. It was the one time in our day that we could be ourselves. We didn’t have to worry about what we said. We all knew what each other was, there were no secrets, we didn’t have to speak in code so others wouldn’t know what we were talking about, we didn’t have to pretend, and it felt good. But with Xavier there, we had to keep things quiet. We couldn’t go around telling people we were demi-angels. We’d sound like fools and end up medicated in a white, padded cell, drooling into a cup.

  “I know,” he whispered close to my ear.

  I swatted him away. “You know what?”

  “Who you are. That’s why I hang around.”

  “What are you talking about?” I looked down at my lunch tray so I didn’t have to face him.

  “You’ll see tomorrow.”

  Nice, another cryptic message. I really need a decoder ring to figure these things out.

  Chay walked up, and we stopped talking. He gave Xavier a dirty look—seems I wasn’t the only one tired of him hanging around—and sat down on the other side of me.

  Slowly, the others drifted in. Drew and Jen were still in line paying for their lunches when Muriel sat down next to Xavier. When Drew walked to the table, he rolled his eyes. Another one who was tired of seeing Xavier, especially when he sat next to Muriel.

  He really needs to tell her he likes her. Or maybe just grab her and kiss her until they’re both dizzy and neither of them can see straight. That’d do it.

  Jen was right behind Drew and sat on the other side of Chay. “So I talked to Lily today.” Her tone was neutral.

  My heart lurched. Lily. An Evil. She was the first of our group who turned traitor and switched sides.

  “Yeah? What about?” Chay asked around a bite of burger.

  Jen sucked salad dressing from her fingers, making smacking sounds with her lips. “Oh, not much. She said she’d be paying a visit to Milayna in the next few days. Has she talked to you?” she asked, leaning around Chay to look at me.

  “Nope. Haven’t seen her in weeks.”

  Paying me a visit? Ugh, that could only mean one thing. A fight. And if we’re fighting, it’s because Azazel wants to distract us. But who’s he after?

  “Well, I’m sure she’ll give you a call.”

  “Yeah.” I forced a smile. “I’m sure she will. I can’t wait.”

  Xavier excused himself from the table and went to buy a dessert.

  He eats more than everyone at the table combined but is still lean—and he doesn’t have bad pecs either… Stop it! I’m not supposed to notice.

  “So what else did Lily say?” Muriel asked Jen quickly before Xavier got back to the table.

  “That was it, really. Other than Jake would be visiting with her.”

  Great. That definitely means a fight.

  Jake. Another one of our team who jumped ship in favor of Azazel’s way of life. He was by far the meanest of the five that left. Azazel seemed to transfer some of his pure evil straight into Jake’s bloodstream. He turned vicious, like a rabid dog. His need to hurt the group was insatiable. He wasn’t only evil, he was sadistic. He scared me more than Azazel. Azazel couldn’t touch me—Jake could, and he seemed to enjoy it.

  “That’ll be fun.” Chay reached for my hand and threaded his fingers with mine.

  “Maybe that’s what the hobgoblins meant when they said he was coming.” I ran my thumb over the top of Chay’s hand.

  “Maybe,” Chay said, not looking at me.

  ***

  “Milayna, can you run to the store for me?” my mom asked.

  “Sure, what do you need?”

  “Just a few things to go with dinner—some lettuce, cheese, corn chips, olives—”

  “What are we having for dinner?” I laughed.

  “Taco salad.”

  “Do you have a list for me?” She handed me a piece of paper. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait, I should call Chay and have him go with you, or maybe Muriel.”

  “I’m fine. There are lots of people at the supermarket.”

  She bit her bottom lip before nodding. “Okay, but be careful.”

  I kissed her on the cheek. “Love you.” I ran out the door and to the car before she changed her mind and called Muriel or Chay to be my bodyguard.

  Thirty minutes later, I walked out of the supermarket with the groceries. My gaze was drawn to an elderly woman carrying a single bag and walking toward the road.

  Everything around me screeched to a stop. The cars froze on the road. The people talking and moving around the shopping center’s parking lot stilled. An airplane hung stationary in midair. Only the woman moved. She slowly inched her way toward the crosswalk.

&nbs
p; In the quiet, I heard the far-off motor of a vehicle. I watched it move along the road. The cars around it were like holographic images. It drove right through them, barreling toward the crosswalk where the old woman stood waiting to cross the street.

  My breathing increased. I tried to concentrate on the vision, afraid the van was going to hit the woman. My heart hammering in my head, I watched as the old woman stepped off the curb. She was slowly making her way across the road when her bag fell to the ground, spilling what little groceries she had across the pavement.

  She started to gather the items. Folding her long coat up, she made a pouch to carry her things. She was loading her coat with her food when she noticed the van. It was coming too fast to stop, even if the man at the wheel had been watching—he wasn’t. He wasn’t going the speed limit either. Not unless the small neighborhood market had been located on the Autobahn.

  I sucked in a breath to scream for her to move. She let go of the edge of her coat and scurried out of the way of the van barreling toward her. Trying to hurry, she lost her balance and fell on all fours against the curb. Her hands and knees scraped and bloodied, she heaved her body from the ground, and walked safely to the sidewalk lining the street.

  She turned and looked at the remnants of her groceries. The van never slowed down, plowing over her things. A meager supply of fresh fruits and vegetables were smashed into puddles on the street. A flattened loaf of bread and a smashed carton of eggs littered the pavement. A small container of milk leaked into the gutter, turning the dirty water an opaque tan, like the color of coffee with creamer in it.

  The woman bent down and fished two cans of soup from the filthy gutter. The only items not ruined. Shoulders slumped, she shuffled down the sidewalk, stuffing her two cans of soup in her coat pockets.

  I jerked as the sights and sounds around me came crashing back. I looked around and saw the woman making her way toward the crosswalk, carrying her one small bag of groceries—just like in my vision.

  “Ma’am, let me help you.” I jogged to catch up to her.

  She looked me up and down, a small frown pulling at her thin lips, which were covered with cracked lipstick two shades too light for her mocha-colored skin.

  “Let me help you carry your things across the road. The bag looks heavy, and there’s so much traffic today.” I reached tentatively toward her bag, trying not to startle her into thinking I was going to steal her things.

  Now that I could see her close up, I realized how important that one bag of groceries probably was to her. Her coat was stained and torn. Her stockings had runs and small holes in them, the soles of her shoes flapping when she walked. She looked like a lady who lived paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by. The type who wouldn’t be able to afford to replace lost groceries. I wondered what she would eat if I wasn’t able to stop her and the van destroyed her food.

  “I could use some help,” she said quietly. “The cold weather isn’t kind to me.” I looked at her hands and saw her knuckles twisted and swollen from arthritis.

  “I don’t mind helping. Do you live there?” I pointed to a small apartment complex on the other side of the road.

  “Yes.”

  “I can carry them for you.” She hesitated a moment before handing me her bag with a small smile.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I’m Milayna.” I swung my canvas shopping tote over my shoulder so I could carry her bag.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Milayna. I’m Mae.” She turned to step off the curb; I held my arm out for her to lean on. She grabbed it and pushed off the curb just as the van sped by, never slowing down, never looking for pedestrians. “My, he’s going fast.” Mae looked at the back of the van speeding down the street.

  “Yes, he is.”

  I walked Mae to her apartment complex. She leaned heavily on my arm, using me as a crutch as we slowly made our way down the cracked and crumbling sidewalk. The apartments were small and rundown. Garbage littered the walkway and cigarette butts and empty beer cans were strewn across the property. I walked beside her as she slowly made her way to her unit. While she was preoccupied with digging her keys out of her purse, I slipped two twenties and some of the food I’d bought into her bag.

  “Thank you,” she said, turning and taking her bag. “Let me give you something for helping—”

  “No, no, I can’t take anything. I did it because I wanted to help, not because I wanted you to give me anything. You have a good day. It was nice meeting you, ma’am.”

  “Goodbye, Milayna.”

  “Bye.” I waved and walked down the walkway, making my way across the street and back to my car.

  Sometimes life as a demi-angel sucked, especially when you had demons up your butt. But sometimes, it was the best thing ever, like when I could help someone who really needed it, like Mae.

  “Milayna, where’s the lettuce and tomatoes?” My mom dug around in the bag. “You didn’t get half of what was on the list. What happened?”

  I told her about the vision. “Oh, and I kinda slipped your forty dollars into Mae’s shopping bag,” I said with a cringe.

  “That’s okay, Milayna. You did the right thing. We’ll just have pizza for dinner instead of cooking.”

  I wondered what Mae was eating and prayed she had enough.

  ***

  “What are you doing up?” my dad asked on his way to the kitchen. It was just before midnight. I was sitting on the couch in the living room. It faced a large picture window overlooking our front yard and the street beyond it.

  “Texting Chay.”

  “You two need to knock off the texting so late at night. Your fingers are going to get raw from pushing the buttons.”

  “Yeah. Look in the street, Dad.”

  “Who is that? He stood in front of the window and moved the sheer curtain out of the way. “Uh-oh.”

  “They’ve been out there for an hour. The hobgoblins are here too. They run through the front yard every once in a while, but for the most part, they’re in the back with Chay.”

  “Why didn’t you come get me, Milayna?”

  “Chay saw the hobgoblins in the yard and jumped the fence. He’s out there with them. I’ve been watching Lily and Jake, and they’re just standing there. I didn’t see any reason to come get you. Besides, I didn’t want to upset Mom.”

  “She isn’t taking this too well, that’s for sure. She thought we were done with this mess. We all did. You still should have let me know what was going on.”

  “Sorry.” I never took my eyes off Lily and Jake, who were standing in the street like statues watching our house.

  “Who else did you text?”

  “Everyone in the group.”

  “Good. I’m gonna call the police.” He sighed. “What a mess.”

  The pain came swiftly, piercing. It felt like someone was stabbing me between the eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. Bending forward, I wrapped my arm around my knees.

  I felt the phone vibrate next to me.

  Chay. He’ll be inside in a few seconds. As soon as he realizes I’m not going to answer, he’ll come see what’s wrong.

  I was right. It wasn’t ten seconds later that he barged through the door, nearly knocking into my dad.

  “Sir,” he said.

  “Son, what are you doing?”

  “It’s Milayna.” Chay rounded the corner followed closely by my dad. “A vision?” he asked me.

  “Not yet,” I answered. My teeth clenched so tightly against the stabbing pain in my head that my jaw throbbed and the muscles in my neck were corded.

  Me. Arms stretching out toward me. A hand grasping my neck. Squeezing, squeezing. I can’t breathe. My head pounds, and stars blink in front of my eyes. The person squeezes harder… The edges of the room start to blur…

  I clawed at invisible hands around my throat, gasping for breath. Chay touched my arm gently; I flung his hand away. I couldn’t breathe. My head pounded in time to m
y rapid heartbeat—like a drum banging inside my skull, pounding out a rhythm only it knew. My lungs burned, starved for oxygen.

  Can I die from a vision? Is some unseen force really strangling me?

  I felt dizzy. Kicking my feet back and forth against the carpet, I tried to back away from the sensation. My back pressed deep into the sofa’s cushions. I could hear my dad’s panicked voice. He sounded so far away.

  The hands squeeze harder. I scratch them with my fingernails, blood oozing from the angry lines, but my attacker doesn’t let go. I’m going to die.

  I heard a blip from a police car, and the vision dissolved. Falling on my knees in front of the couch, I held my throat. I sucked in large lungsful of air. Slowly, the room came back into focus. The stars in front of my eyes disappeared and were replaced by the rolling red and blue lights coloring the living room walls.

  I looked up and saw Lily and Jake standing in the spotlight of the police cruiser. The bright white light washed out their faces and made them look like the gray demons they worked for. The red and blue lights mixed with the white spotlight gave them a sinister look. As if they sensed I was thinking about them, they turned and stared at the house one last time before the officer ushered them into the back of the police car.

  “Milayna! Are you okay?” My dad’s worried voice broke through my thoughts.

  “Can someone die from a vision? I felt like I was dying. The person was strangling me, and I couldn’t breathe, Dad.” I rubbed my neck again.

  “No, I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of anyone dying from a vision, but I’ve also never seen someone have such strong visions as you.”

  “Great.”

  “What’d you see? Anything new?” Chay asked.

  I shook my head. “Just the same arms, hands reaching for my throat. And then the person was strangling me. I kind of lost track of the vision then. I physically felt the sensation of being strangled. It was hard to concentrate.”