The Sun Angel

by Ashley Martinez

  “What’s going on, Dad? Why were you freaking out?” she took in his now calm features.

  “I’m sorry about that, Angel,” he smiled. “Some things at work weren’t going as planned and so I was on call to head to Chicago, but they got it straightened out.”

  “Meaning?”

  “We get to stay.”

  “Dad,” Jenna gave him a reproachful look. “It seemed a lot more serious than you’re letting on.”

  He waved her concern away, “It was a big account—“

  “Meaning lots of money,” Jenna finished for him as she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. “I get it, I get it.”

  Chapter Three

  “NO!!!” Jenna screamed out as Will snapped Lena’s neck.

  “I told you not to trust your feelings, Jenna,” Will’s voice was demonic.

  “Why?” Jenna cried. Tears streamed down her face as she watched Lena’s lifeless body lay at Will’s feet.

  “She was in my way,” Will stepped on Lena’s head, smashing it.

  Jenna flinched at the sound of bones crunching under Will’s foot. She could no longer look at her old friend. Instead she gazed up at Will, realizing for the first time he has wings. They were blackest black and unfurling as if he would take off any moment. His eyes were blood red and his skin was milky white making him looked decayed.

  He took another step toward her, “You just don’t understand, Jenna…you cannot rule this world. It’s mine.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jenna sobbed.

  “Stop acting like your memory is still locked up!” Will shouted causing Jenna to scramble back.

  As she flinched away she noticed they were on a pile of bones mixed with dead bodies of strange creatures all around them.

  “You’re mortal now, I made sure of it,” he sounded smug. “I want to watch you die, and I want to be the one to kill you.”

  “NO!” Jenna sat up breathing heavily. Her hand clutched her chest as she took in her surroundings. A big sigh of relief swept through her as she realized she was in her bed. The awful scene she’d witnessed had been nothing more than a horrifying dream.

  A muffled cry sounded from downstairs. Jenna’s heart rate picked back up causing shivers of fear to ripple up her back.

  She climbed out of bed and crept to her door. Easing it open she glanced down the hallway toward the stairs. She couldn’t see anything.

  “Dad?” she called out in a whisper.

  There was no answer, so she went back to her room to find anything she could use as a weapon. Grabbing an old wooden baseball bat, she made her way out into the hallway. Very quietly she tiptoed to her dad’s room. She knocked gently but again there was no answer. Opening the door she poked her head in. His room was empty.

  “Dad?” she whispered hopefully .

  Silence. She gripped the bat tighter and turned to go downstairs. Maybe her dad had gotten hurt while getting something downstairs. When she reached the top of the stairs, she froze in fear; something wasn’t right, she could feel it, but still she had to find her dad. If anything she had an advantage over whoever it was because they didn’t know she was here or that she had a bat. She considered going back to her dad’s room to get his gun but then thought better of it. Jenna didn’t know how to fire a gun very accurately; she’d refused to learn when her dad first bought it. She silently cursed herself for being a wimp as she crept in the shadows down the stairs.

  Jenna couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary as she scanned the living room. Keeping to the shadows along the wall she moved in the direction of the kitchen. As she reached the doorway ready to peer in, she heard footsteps walking toward her from the very doorway she was standing next to.

  Fear overwhelmed her, and she swung the bat out as hard as she could when whoever it was passed through the doorway. A grunt followed and she swung the bat again at the stranger.

  Only he was too quick, he reached up and grabbed the bat before it could hit him again, “Jenna, stop!”

  Will’s voice made her instantly freeze both from the order but also from relief. As her heart rate slowed confusion took fear’s place.

  “Will?” she whispered, her heart racing. Her recent dream about him made her almost nauseous with unease. Hearing his own voice instead of the demonic one in her dream was soothing, however, she didn’t drop her guard.

  “Where’s my dad?” she asked accusingly backing away from him.

  “What?” Now Will was confused.

  “What in the hell are you doing here?” Jenna hissed backing away, trying to make her way to an exit. She wasn’t sure why she was so scared of Will; after all it had only been a dream, but a feeling of uncertainty settled over the house; it emanated from the kitchen where Will stood.

  “I needed to talk to your dad, but it appears he isn’t here,” Will answered matter-of-factly, surprised by his own honesty.

  “My dad?” Jenna paused. “Why?”

  “I have important business with him.”

  Jenna folded her arms, “You don’t know my dad.”

  “Not personally, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have business with him,” Will leaned against the doorway rubbing his eye where the bat had connected the first time. She was stronger than he thought making him wonder what else she’d kept hidden from him.

  “And what business do you have with him?”

  “That,” Will shoved away from the door, “Is none of your business.”

  “Oh, I think it is,” Jenna took a defiant step forward. “You came into my house in the middle of the night and for some crazy reason my dad isn’t even here! You can’t tell me this isn’t any of my business; it’s all my business!”

  “Shh!” Will’s hand jerked up.

  “Don’t tell me what-“ she began but lost her voice as something moved behind Will. It seemed to grow bigger as it advanced. She gasped and lifted a shaky hand pointing to it before dropping to the floor in a dead faint.

  Will cursed as the dragon slashed at him. He leapt out of the way before its clawed hand could grab hold of him.

  “Damn you,” he grunted as the dragon made another swipe at him. Will’s sword appeared in his hands, and he swung his arms, cutting off one of the dragon’s feet. It howled in furious agony and retaliated by spatting a shower of sparks at Will who couldn’t avoid and was hit with the fire. He grimaced in pain as the acidic fire melted through his shirt burning his shoulder.

  Bringing one hand up as he warded off the dragon with the other, he shot coolness from his hand to put out the fire and soothe his shoulder. Unfortunately, the dragon used the distraction to take hold of him with one of its clawed hands.

  “Crap,” he grunted.

  “Let him go!” Jenna had gotten up without either one realizing it. She held a gun and shot at the dragon with closed eyes, hitting it in the shoulder of its missing limb. It screamed in outrage and dropped Will instead directing its fire at Jenna who screamed and dove out of the way but was not quick enough; the sparks singed her thigh. Jenna dropped to the ground as she furiously slapped at the fire. She gasped in pain; it felt like her leg was melting off.

  Gritting his teeth in unimaginable hatred toward the dragon, Will jumped at the dragon letting his wings unfurl in rage as he brought his sword down with all his might, chopping the beast’s head off. It landed on the wooden floor with a loud thud as its body followed with a thump.

  “Jenna!” Will landed lightly next to her, tucking his wings away so not to scare her. She was barely conscious. Cautiously, he laid his hand on her burning thigh, unsure of how much power to use to cool her without freezing her.

  She gasped, and her eyes shot open, “Will, it hurts!” Her head hit the floor as she passed out for a second time that night.

  He sighed in frustration; the old Jenna would have killed the dragon before it had the chance to get her. It was hard for him to remember she didn’t know anything from her past, just of this human life. Will removed his hand and was
dismayed to see her skin shimmering with little icicles. He cursed himself for using too much power but was pleased to see the burn gone.

  He finally forced himself to look at her face. She looked troubled as if she were in a terrible dream. Little did he know that she was having a nightmare about dragons and fires.

  “Jenna,” he whispered, not wanting to scare her. Hesitantly he reached out and lifted her head, her skin was hot to his cold hand, almost too hot, but Will wasn’t bothered by it. Will watched Jenna’s worried expression smooth into a peaceful expression of contentment.

  Gently, Will lifted Jenna off the floor and made his way slowly up the stairs toward her room. He knew right where it was since he’d already been in there earlier searching for any secret openings to their realm, being this close to the coastline made him nervous of what other creatures could have access to her.

  He laid her on the bed and examined her leg again. The icicles were slowly melting leaving behind an ugly purplish blue color where he had accidently frozen her leg. He grimaced at his foolishness for even thinking he could heal her.

  Will knew she needed heat on the wound before it got worse, but she didn’t know how to use her power. He groaned realizing he’d have to find her the heat. He left her and scoured the house for a heat pad. Eventually, he found an electric one in the hall closet. Racing back to Jenna, he plugged it in and laid it across her frozen leg.

  Hoping she wouldn’t knock it off during the night, he stood to leave but found himself unable to step away from her. He studied her, the way her face would crease with worry then soften. Her golden hair looked to be made of silk making him want to touch it. Will reached out to feel her hair for himself.

  “You called, boss?” his somewhat annoying sidekick stepped into the room from the window.

  Will clenched his hands into fists, “Over an hour ago!” he was seething; he wanted to be left alone with Jenna for a few minutes longer. He’d hoped James hadn’t realized he was about to touch her but from his appearance he didn’t notice anything.

  “Sorry, I got held up,” James shrugged finally looking at who was on the bed. “Did you save her?!”

  “I had to,” Will snapped. It suddenly made sense why the dragon had shown up. The queen had sent it to retrieve Jenna.

  “Why?!”

  “I have some questions, and she’s the only one who can answer them,” Will shrugged.

  James shook his head, “You aren’t saying you’re going to help her restore herself, are you?”

  “Of course not!” Will scoffed. “I need her memory, not her.”

  “What do you want me to tell the queen?”

  “Tell her to hold off on retrieval,” Will thought quickly trying to give himself more time.

  “For how long?”

  “Until I get the answers I need.”

  “You know she’s going to want to know more than that,” James pointed out.

  Will nodded, “You’re right. Tell her I’m working out how to ensure night forever.”

  “And you think she knows how to do it?” James indicated Jenna with a jerk of his thumb.

  “I don’t think. I know,” Will snapped.

  James patted Will’s shoulder as if he’d lost his mind, “You got it, mate. But don’t bite off more than you can chew…you know how the queen is.”

  Will nodded and watched James fly out the window. Turning back to Jenna he examined her leg again. She wasn’t healing as fast as she did with the grim, but he understood why. His magic was a lot stronger than the grim’s.

  He moved back toward the door knowing he had to get rid of the dragon’s body. Usually he didn’t care if he made a mess; he knew the dragon would disappear, but if Richard, Jenna’s dad, walked in and found it, he would try running again and would make Will’s job harder.

  It’d been a miracle Richard hadn’t left that afternoon, but by a stroke of luck the Guardians were able to convince Richard to stay. Cleaning up took him almost a full half hour and Richard would be home soon from his Trading.

  Will went back to check on Jenna one more time before he left, just to make sure she was healing or so he told himself. He couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge the feelings being around Jenna gave him.

  He was lost in thought when a warm hand touched him causing him to jump up pulling his sword out.

  “Will?” Jenna whispered frightened by the impossibilities she continued to witness tonight.

  “Sorry,” he made his sword disappear but remained standing.

  “What happened?” Jenna sat up. She was scared and unsure of the truth.

  Will sighed again, “We were attacked.”

  “Attacked?” Fear closed her throat.

  “Yes,” he nodded. “By a dragon.”

  “Dr…dragon?”

  “What do you remember?”

  “I remember the,” Jenna paused, “The thing had you and was going to eat you then I shot it, and it breathed fire at me and…and…my leg hurt really bad,” she felt lost and must have looked it too because Will came and sat across from her on the bed.

  “You got hit by the fire,” he reached out and moved the heat pad. Her skin looked better; though, it was still blue.

  “I…I…,” Jenna stammered. She had to be dreaming! None of this could be real.

  “I tried to heal it, but I accidently froze your leg,” he looked so shameful that Jenna couldn’t help but reach out to him.

  He flinched pulling away, “Don’t do that,” he mumbled hurting Jenna’s feelings but was trying to save her from him. Or was he trying to save himself?

  “Why can’t I touch you?” Jenna’s hurt caused her to forget the incident downstairs. All she could think of is how much she wanted to touch Will and how he always pulled away making her feel rejected.

  Will chuckled, “Ask me later, Angel.”

  “No!” Jenna moved and forcefully grabbed his hand. “Answer me now!”

  Will couldn’t do anything but stare at Jenna’s hot hand clinging to his cold one. He wanted so much to open his hand and fold her small ones into his large, rough ones. He wanted to feel more of her skin. He wanted to touch her face to see if it was as soft as it looked.

  He shook his head and pulled his hand out of hers, “I don’t want you to touch me.”

  “Why?” Jenna pushed, fighting the tears that were threatening to come up.

  “I have to go,” Will stood quickly hearing a car pull up.

  “What?”

  “Your dad is home,” Will answered going to the window.

  “You’re not going out that way, are you?” Jenna scrambled up next to him to look down, the heat radiating off her enveloped Will making him think of a time when they weren’t trying to kill each other. “You’ll break something!”

  Will laughed out right, “No, Angel, I won’t.”

  Jenna looked at him uncertainly; she didn’t know he could easily jump down without a second glance. She wanted to make him laugh again, she like hearing it.

  “Oh, before I go,” Will turned back and very cautiously took her face in his hands. Her warmth flooded through him, pleasant and welcoming. Pushing his thoughts aside he focused on his task.

  “Will?” Jenna whispered not daring to move, enjoying his cool hands on her face.

  “Go to sleep, Jenna,” Will whispered as he heard the front door open. “You won’t remember a thing.”

  He pulled away from Jenna as she crawled back into bed and fell fast asleep. He then turned and jumped, spreading his wings and taking off into the night.

  ***

  “Morning, Dad!” Jenna greeted her father as he walked in the kitchen the next morning. She had gotten up at her usual time of six and had made them breakfast. She felt well rested and incredibly happy.

  “Morning, my Sun Angel,” he kissed the top of her head. “Mmm, smells delicious. What’ve we got here?”

  “French toast and bacon,” Jenna answered handing him a plate.

  “Excellent!”

&n
bsp; “Dad?” Jenna asked uncertainly.

  “What is it, Jen?” her dad happily chewed away, not noticing her hesitancy.

  “I had a strange dream last night.”

  “What about?”

  “Well I think it was a dream,” Jenna paused unsure how to continue.

  “What is it, Jenna?” Richard put down his fork looking concerned at his daughter.

  “I woke up last night and you weren’t home.”

  “That had to have been a dream,” he smiled tightly. “Where would I go in the middle of the night?”

  “I don’t know, but it felt so real. I remember looking for you, but then I was suddenly back in my bed.”

  “Well there you have it! A dream!” Richard laughed. “Our minds can play funny tricks on us when we’re tired. Oh, bus is here, Jen.”

  “Okay,” Jenna still felt unsure. Something wasn’t right; her dad was acting a little strange.

  “See you after work.”

  “Have a great day my Sun Angel!”

  “Do you have plans this Saturday?” Lena asked as Jenna opened her locker.

  “Um,” Jenna paused wondering if she should lie just so Lena wouldn’t know how much of a loser she really was.

  She laughed like she already knew, “Well you do now.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We’re going to Henry’s party,” she smiled like it was the greatest news.

  Jenna sighed and banged her head on her locker.

  “What? What’s wrong with a party?”

  “Nothing’s wrong with a party,” Jenna shook her head. “Henry hates me, so I can guarantee he doesn’t want me there.”

  “Actually he doesn’t care,” now she looked smug. “He told me I could bring you.”

  “You forced him, didn’t you?” Jenna smiled at her. Her and Jenna hadn’t been friends long, but Jenna felt like she knew her well.

  “He might’ve needed some persuading,” Lena’s eyes held a small glint.

  She laughed, “I knew it.”

  “So you’re going, right?”

  “I’m assuming I don’t have a choice.”

  “You’re assuming right,” Lena answered. “See you next period.”