by S E Lunsford
Soft light filtered into the space from a small lamp that sat on the bedside table pushing into the corners of the room that were made of concrete. Unable to stop myself from running my fingers across the soft blanket and feeling a quirk of joy at it, I rolled over taking the blanket with me and seeing that it was a basic room, smallish in size. Filling the space in front of the only door sat the angel who had brought me here, nodding off to sleep in a wingback chair.
I took the opportunity to take a good look at him. His light hair was thick, shining in the dim light as it curled at his collar. His shoulders were broad, barely contained by the width of the chair, and his long legs stretched out in front of him. His wings spread out at his sides trailing over the chair and draping until they touched the floor. The white feathers faintly moved as he breathed slowly. Suddenly his breath caught, and he jerked up looking around wildly before his eyes settled on me staring at him. A jolt ran through my body as our eyes met, which I tried to tamp down. As his eyes held mine, I struggled to stay still and not retreat into the covers. A smile crossed his mouth before fading.
“So, you’ve woken,” he stated, his voice flat whereas his eyes flared with curiosity.
Carefully moving, I struggled to sit up trying to figure out whether I was clothed or not. Relief coursed through me when I glanced stealthily down and saw that I had a set of pink sweats on. My brows furrowed at the thought of pink sweats. Even in the days before, I would never have been caught dead in pink sweats. That was then, and this was now. I fought back a smile as I realized how soft they were, and how now after the first flush of revulsion I realized I didn’t really care about the color. They were clean, they were warm and they fit. My forehead smoothed out as my muscles relaxed for a moment.
The angel had leaned forward, his legs pulled towards his body while his wings still spread out on either side of him. They radiated with tension instead of relaxation as he stared at me expecting an answer.
“Yes,” I said. “Here I am, awake.” Glancing around again, I looked past him focusing on the door where dragging sounds echoed into the room from the other side. He turned his head slightly following my gaze.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “But, now that you’re awake….,”
“What,” I interrupted him. “What am I not supposed to be worried about what’s going on behind the door? And, where am I anyway?” I looked around the room again, this time trying to figure out if there was any other way out than the one door. There wasn’t. That bit of knowledge didn’t do as much to erase my unwanted pleasure at clean, warm sweats as I would have liked.
His lips curled. “The safe place,” was his simple reply.
“I guess it wasn’t so safe after all,” I said quietly as I fully comprehended what his words meant. That John and his men were scattered somewhere out there, that Chris, Robert and Jasper were probably here, and Cassie and the rest of them were out there fighting to stay alive and not get caught. My stomach twisted as I wondered if they would leave me here. I knew Cassie wouldn’t. Edward and Carlisle had proved they wouldn’t leave their sister, but me? I had no idea.
My stomach twisted again as I looked at the angel who stood to his full height. Even though his wings were folded back behind him, he was taller than I had ever seen anyone in real life. Somehow being in a small room made him seem that much bigger.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“What’s yours?” I shot back.
Raising his eyebrows in amusement, he smiled a genuine smile that reached his eyes. “You can just call me Bob.”
It was my turn to feel amused. “Bob?” I asked, trying not to laugh out loud.
“Yes, Bob,” laughter erupting from somewhere in his core.
“Really?” I asked, throwing the covers off as I slid out of the bed to find a pair of tennis shoes on the floor that looked like just my size. I slipped my feet into them. They fit perfectly.
“That doesn’t sound very angelic.”
“It’s not,” he shrugged. “But, trust me you wouldn’t be able to pronounce my real name. I’ve found that with others……,” he trailed off. “Well, it’s just easier if I’m called Bob.”
Nodding firmly, I tried to push down the irrational feeling that was trying to claw its way up into my throat. “Bob it is then.”
“And your name?” He asked.
Standing up, I tried to figure out whether I should tell him my name or not, taking up then discarding one argument after another as I did so. His eyes narrowed as he watched me think.
“Dani,” I finally said, deciding I didn’t want to keep up with any other name than my own.
“Dani,” he repeated after me as if trying my name on for size. “Well, Dani, we have to leave.”
“Where’re we going?” I asked.
He sighed. “You’ll see when we get there, but you need to stay close to me, or things won’t go well for you.” He regarded me with a look I couldn’t quite figure out. “You understand?”
I nodded.
“You understand? Yes or no?” He repeated slowly as if I wasn’t quite grasping what he was saying.
“Yes,” I said slowly back at him biting back a caustic reply as I remembered the dragging sound outside the door.
“Okay, now I’m going to have to put this one you,” he said coming towards me with a glistening golden rope that ended in a loop. Instinctively, I shrank back, looking around the room quickly and keeping my breathing steady. There was still no other way out than through the one door. He stopped, the rope stretched across his hands looking at me as if I’d become a particularly unstable animal that had to be corralled. “Just your wrists, it will be alright.” He took another step towards me.
“You asked me if I understood to stay close to you and I do,” I said my voice amazingly steady as I looked at the rope and took a step away from him. “There’s no need for that.”
“Yes there is, to protect you. Now we either do this the easy way or the more difficult way,” his voice dropped on the word difficult, making me realize there was no way around this. No way out. I put my arms out in front of me.
Sighing with relief, he walked quickly to me, wrapping my wrists with the rope that was stronger than it looked seeming to cling to my skin the second it made contact. Curious, I pulled away for it, and it tightened biting itself into my skin.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Bob said.
“So, I see,” I whispered.
“Here,” he said, reaching out and pulling at the rope that loosened underneath his fingertips. “The more you struggle the tighter it gets, so just relax.”
Glaring at the cord that seemed itching to tighten on my wrists, I stood tensely trying to figure out the best way to go about not having it tighten.
“Okay, before we walk out that door, there are a couple things you need to know,” Bob said making sure I was looking at him before he continued. “First you stay as close to me as possible…”
“You already said that,” I interrupted him.
“Well, it’s worth repeating,” he said gruffly, running his fingers through his hair. I watched as its golden layers settled back in place, shining layer perfectly sitting on the next, as he clearly tried to figure out what his next words would be.
“And, and you need to not be too upset,” he said carefully. “By what you see.”
He looked everywhere in the room but at me as he slowly said the last words, making me wonder what exactly was out there. I looked at the door, listening intently to what might be on the other side and hearing nothing. His eyes followed mine.
“Ready?” He said quietly.
I nodded mutely not knowing if I would ever be ready.
Reaching for the doorknob he stopped, took a deep breath and looked back at me. He picked up the tail end of the rope pulling me closer to him. “Stay under the shadow of my wings,” he commanded. I shuddered at the tone in
voice as he carefully opened the door and looked out into the hallway.
The chill radiating from the cement walls made me shiver even with my sweats on as I had to shuffl behind him so we both could fit into the narrow space. I took in a deep breath and was immediately assaulted by the metallic tang of blood, which made sense because when I looked down there were streaks of red drying on the floor. As my gaze went up the walls, there were streaks on them too. Bob glanced at me, and I tried to keep my face still as a click of distaste tinged with the metallic taste of fear tried to claw its way out my throat. He pulled me closer, so I stood just in front of his wing.
As we walked, I tried to keep my hands still because any movement caused the rope to tighten. Within a few steps it had tightened painfully cutting into my skin. Bob reached over to loosen it without saying a word.
Most of the doors on either side of the hallway were open with rooms very much like those that we left behind, except the beds looked as though they’d seen a lot of activity with sheets and blankets strewn all over them, some of them stained red. I tried not to think about what might have happened in them, and for the first time felt a sense of gratefulness that if I was going to be caught by an angel, that it would be this one.
A door appeared at the end of hallway, and along with the scent of blood I picked up the rotting scent of flesh that could only come from creepers. Sweat gathered under my arms and at the top of my neck underneath my hair at the thought of the door opening and not having any way to defend myself. We stopped just in front of the door, Bob’s eyes met mine as he reached for the doorknob.
The rank smell assaulted me, quickly followed by the noise of the open area beyond the door. Two creepers stood guard on either side of the door, their mouths salivating at the sight of me as they shuffled back and forth their eyes darting from the angel to me. One clicked its teeth together in agitation clearly frustrated that it wasn’t able to feast on me. Bob pulled me closer as the creeper leaned in, its stench washing over me as I choked back a gag. The one on the other side began to moan looking for a way around the angel’s body to get to me. Putting his hand on the small of my back, Bob propelled me forward as the creepers began to keen at being deprived of their prey.
“Hey Bob,” an angel from our left said, sarcasm coloring his voice as he said Bob’s name. “It’s really not fair to tempt them so.”
Bob just looked at him and began to laugh, shrugging as we continued to walk.
“Where’d you get this Daughter of Eve?” The angel fell into step next to us, raking his eyes over me from the tips of my white sneaker clad toes to the top of my brown hair. He watched the way my hair rippled down my back as if mesmerized.
“Around,” Bob answered vaguely.
The other rolled his eyes. “Just like all the others,” he commented without missing a step.
We walked into an open staging area where there was a convoy of military vehicles as far as I could see. Some of them were entirely closed in, while others held cages of creepers just like Cassie had said. At the thought of my friend, I silently wished that she and the others were safe from both creepers and angels alike, as well as the other creatures the angels seemed to be constantly making.
I looked around for Chris and Robert but didn’t see anyone I knew among the men that were helping the angels with any number of jobs. It looked like a well-run military operation. Opening my mouth to say something, I immediately felt a tug on my cord. Looking over I saw Bob glaring at me as the other angel looked on, his mouth quirking in amusement.
“Looks like you’ve got a live one,” he commented wryly.
“Shut up Israfel,” Bob said, irritation running though his voice.
Israfel only smiled. “Well, little Daughter of Eve, maybe you’ll be around long enough for my friend here, Bob,” he said with emphasis. “To tell you his real name because that’s the stuff that nightmares of made of for you humans. If you’re ever curious, I’m…,”
“I said shut up Israfel,” Bob barked pulling me away from the other angel whose laughter trailed behind us melodically as we made our way over to one of the vehicles. Stopping next to a transport vehicle, Bob leaned over and said something quietly to the driver who was dressed in green fatigues a gun in his hand. The man nodded and looked over as if memorizing me, then quickly lost interest.
Pushing me to the back of the vehicle, Bob rolled up and secured the green drape revealing a darkish interior where a few other women sat on benches on either side of the truck bed.
“You need to get in here and stay in here until I come and get you,” he whispered leaning over me as he spoke and carefully putting his hands around my waist. I held back a gasp as his fingers heated up my skin even through the sweats I wore. Looking down, I tilted my head letting my hair drape my face that had become too warm the longer his hands lingered. He chuckled, looking up quickly I saw that he was smiling down at me.
“What about staying with you no matter what?” I whispered glancing furtively into the truck where the other women were looking on curiously.
“That was until I told you not too,” he replied, amusement in his voice that quickly wiped away the warmth I felt, replacing it with irritation.
Narrowing my eyes at him I stepped back, a movement that wiped the smile off his face.
“Listen,” he said coldly closing the gap between us. “You need to get in and when we get to our destination you’ll get out and do what you’re told. Until then, don’t do anything that will draw attention to yourself.” I followed his gaze as he looked around seeing it stop when it got to Israfel who was standing closer to the truck than I expected.
“You’ve already done enough of that,” he muttered, before closing his hands tightly around my waist again and lifting me up into the back of the truck. I struggled to stand upright as he let go of me, wobbling so much that I sat down hard on the bench as a couple of the other women smirked.
Taking the end of the golden rope, he tied it to a post before he pinned me with a glare. Silently, he turned away from me. Leaving the back flap of the transport vehicle open, he walked towards a group of angels, sliding effortlessly into their circle. A tall angel with dark hair, dark eyes, golden wings and looks that would have landed him modeling jobs before, stepped up and greeted Bob as his eyes locked on mine. I glared back at him as a cold smile spread across his features, he said something to Bob making him turn around to stare at me coldly. They both turned away at the same time, as moans and screeches pulled their attention in another direction.
“Shut them up,” called out the dark haired angel. “Or, I’ll shut you up. Permanently.”
Abruptly the shrieking stopped, and silence steeped the air. Craning my neck, I tried to see what was happening, but I was limited by the canvas wall behind me.
“Don’t bother,” said an exhausted voice from deep in the half-light of the truck bed.
Twisting in my seat, I let my eyes adjust to the dim interior underneath the canvas and saw there were about eight women sitting and staring at me. Most of them were wearing camisoles, negligees and the occasional robe, their feet covered by flimsy slippers. In contrast, my soft sweats and tennis shoes seemed like warm, cozy luxuries.
“You don’t really want to see what they do out there,” said another woman who sat across from me. Her long blond hair was clean, but a bruise in the shape of a hand ran down her neck disappearing in collar of the baby blue robe she wore.
Looking even more closely at them all, I saw that each of them had the same type of golden rope that I did wrapped around their wrists, some of them even had them wrapped around their ankles, with each of the ropes tied off at a different place anchoring them in place.
Breathing deeply, all I smelled in the interior was lavender and soap.
“What do they do?” I asked.
The blond woman just shrugged as she glanced outside. I looked too, seeing that the group of angels had moved out of sight, while men were starting to bring out people from another
doorway than the one I had come out of. As I watched, I realized it was only men that they were bringing out, men with bloody clothes and bruises. They were herding them into a truck that was three back from ours.
The men could barely walk, and one tripped almost falling before the one in front took a step back putting his bound hands to the side and grasping the man so he stayed upright. My eyes widened as I recognized it was Robert helping the man behind him. His face was bruised and his mouth split open and bloody, but I was sure it was him. I took a breath to call out, when the blond women hissed at me.
“For the love of anything that’s good in this world, keep your mouth shut,” she murmured under her breath.
Not sure if I’d even heard her, I looked over to see her glaring at me. I looked outside again just as an angel grabbed Robert by the back of his head yanking his hair painfully and snarling something into his ear. Letting Robert go, the angel growled something to one of the men who was herding the line of men as Robert stumbled to keep his footing.
“First rule, you help no one,” said the same voice that spoke first from the back of the truck bed.
Whirling around, I again tried to place the voice. An older woman sat towards the back staring at me, a slight smile on her lips as exhaustion radiated off every part of her. Taking a deep breath and trying to settle myself, I stared at her.
“I don’t believe we should let them define us,” I said, my voice coming out far stronger than I thought it would be.
“You’ll see,” said another voice.
Turning my back on the women, I continued to watch as the trail of men stopped and creepers were brought out in chains. Their moans were minimized and their eyes rolled as if in fear of the angels. Other creatures were being transported in large steel boxes with locks on them.
The blond women stared at me as I watched the process of loading that was taking place.
“What’s your name?” She asked.