Heavenly Hunted

by Aria Williams

At one point Corrina had enlisted Max’s help. She recognized his love of fashion and together they had a great argument. They were winning me over. Nate came out again and looked at the dress Corrina was claiming would be perfect for me.

  “That dress is disgusting. You’re not a slut, Indy, and that dress screams I’m easy.”

  “She’ll look hot!” said Corrina.

  “She’ll look hot in a paper bag! You know you can look just as sexy dressing respectively, too.”

  “You just don’t want the rest of the year looking at her,” Corrina replied.

  “Well, if you ’re dressed the same as Indy, the school won’t be looking at her.”

  Corrina beamed with what she thought was a compliment. I understood what Nate meant and he wasn’t being nice at all. I didn’t realize till now how little he thought of her, and by the look on his face he wasn’t finished with his insults. I had to change the conversation quickly.

  “So, Nate what are you wearing to grad?” I asked.

  “He’s wearing a suit, silly. Don’t worry about him. I have him covered,” replied Nessa.

  Why did I ever doubt Nessa’s OCD tendencies? As much as I tried, the conversation always crept back to our grad dresses. Nate took my subtle hint and didn’t add any more of his smart ass comments. In-fact, Connor and Nate sat on the lounge playing some boxing game on the PlayStation. Connor was flogging Nate’s ass, he’d better enjoy it, ‘cause it would never happen in real life.

  Casey was the first to leave, surprisingly, by herself, then Corrina left shortly after. As soon as B1 and B2 were gone, Nessa started to plead her case for her choice of shop.

  “Casey doesn’t want to go to Sparkle. She told me she wants to look pretty and leave her body to everyone’s imagination.”

  “Okay, but Corrina wants her junk out on display,” I commented.

  I wanted to be fair to everyone—why couldn’t we go to both shops? Either one may surprise the opposing girl. For once it would be nice to see Corrina lose her skanky look and become sweet and elegant. It might change everyone’s opinion about her and she could develop her own self-worth.

  After Nessa went home, Nate and I decided to take advantage of the little light left outside. We ended up sparring well into the night. Winter was approaching and we would have to make some sacrifices to keep our bodies in peak fighting condition.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Indy

  Waking the next morning, I stretched my muscles, pushing the dull ache from within my biceps. Nate kept me sparring for hours—it wasn’t for my benefit, I’m sure of it. I could tell he was intrigued by my knowledge of the ancient ninja techniques and how fast I switched from one style to another. Nate had been taught karate, boxing, and free style, which was a type of fighting with many different components thrown together. What he did know of these methods of fighting he was bloody good at. I had seen this freestyle before and those fighters had been sloppy and didn’t possess Nate’s dedication to the style. He was a fast learner and picked up skills as I presented them to him.

  This morning I got out of bed and put on my purple skinny leg jeans and a black long sleeve t-shirt with see-through arms. I love this outfit; it was casual but very hip.

  I headed down the stairs to find all three males deeply engaged in conversation. Once Max saw me, he looked at the boys and became silent.

  Connor started to talk about some new warfare game that had just been released. Nice try. I knew the boys had been talking about me; it was most likely about Bernie again. These conversations were starting to bore me. I grabbed my breakfast and went outside to see Lucky.

  Before I reached the back door, Nate called out, “He’s not out there, Indy.”

  “Where is he, then?” I asked angrily.

  “In my room. It’s not safe for him out there.”

  What the hell was he carrying on about? That boy is completely paranoid. I sat on the floor babying the puppy. He loved a good belly rub. The boys finished their three course breakfast and were now ready for school; they were pigs.

  Once we met our friends, the argument about dresses was in full force. Nessa and Corrina were very heated and argued with intense passion. Corrina put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.

  “Nessa, you can go to your shop and Casey and I will go to mine.”

  “I want to go with Nessa.” Twice in two days Casey had done what she wanted.

  Corrina’s mouth dropped wide open; again Casey wasn’t going to do as she wanted. I expected a little tantrum from Corrina, but she took it really well. I think I even witnessed a slight smile.

  My phone started to ring in my pocket, it was the ring tone I had reserved for all unknown calls, it was most likely a case I previously dealt with. I gave out my mobile number for emergencies and it never rang. Walking away from the group, I put the phone to my ear to hear Mandy’s frantic panicked voice. Even through these high states of emotion she spoke with clear precision.

  “I’m ready to leave and I need your help to do it. He can’t find me, either. Can you do that?”

  “Sure, Mandy. When do you want to do this?” I preferred to speak with my fist but I did also re-locate those who wanted to be hidden. That part took a single phone call to my contacts and the victim was given a safe house for as long as they needed. If the situation was extreme, a whole new identity was given. I was very surprised to hear how fast this had escalated and wondered if Mandy hadn’t been totally truthful with me.

  “Is tonight too soon? My husband will be watching the big football game at a friend’s house.”

  “That’s fine,” I said.

  The State of Origin was on tonight, I knew our boys would be sitting around in front of the TV also; nothing showed more pride in your state than cheering loudly for your home side. Even I didn’t mind watching big muscly men running around in tiny little shorts. Walking back to the group, my mind had been made up about the shopping trip. Mandy lived in Orange and that’s where Pretty Things was.

  “We’re off to Orange this afternoon,” I said loudly.

  Nessa and Casey cheered, Corrina didn’t seem phased by the choice. I knew if she didn’t find a dress in Orange, her mum would take her Bathurst or even further.

  Nate approached me. I could tell by his annoyed look he wasn’t impressed.

  “We’re not going to look at dresses; the big game is on tonight.”

  I could feel a lover’s quarrel coming. Nate’s honesty wouldn’t win this fight and I was sure his friends would help me with this.

  “You’re not coming, it’s a girl’s afternoon,” I stated loudly.

  This gained the attention of Mark and Brandon. “Man, trust me—you don’t want to go with them,” said Mark

  Everyone threw their opinions in, and while Nate tried to argue, it was a lost cause.

  The details were arranged and we were leaving as soon as school finished.

  ***

  We stood inside the fashion boutique, overwhelmed with the endless colorful array of designer dresses. Nessa started to comb through the racks for everyone’s ideal gown. The sales assistant recognized her as the leader and followed her around. After Nessa had found a handful of dresses, she then went on to synchronize shoes for each gown. It didn’t stop there—necklaces, earrings, and even breast fillets were all thrown at the poor sales assistant. Oh goody, I just can’t wait!

  Casey went to the other side of the shop and checked out a few gowns that had caught her eye.

  I just stood waiting to be dressed, the sales lady had four changing rooms opened.

  Corrina looked at a few pieces and showed no interest.

  “Corrina, just try one on for me, please?” begged Nessa.

  Rolling her eyes, Corrina held her hand out in annoyance.

  “Indy, you have dresses to try on, too. Go,” Nessa encouraged.

  I tried on gown after gown like a robot, throwing those ridiculous breast fillets into each dress cup. Just when I thought I was done, Nessa hooked fi
ve more onto the back of the door.

  Corrina tried on the only one Nessa asked of her and didn’t bother with anymore. Nessa was very disappointed in her attitude and was mumbling to herself in the next changing room.

  Casey tried on a few and looked smashing, but everything looked good on her. She asked the sales assistant to put a few away in the back on hold—she was coming back with her mother.

  All three girls judged each dress I wore. They debated what was best and which shade suited my complexion. The sales assistant pulled out an ugly sequined peachy pink gown. Vomit. I scrunched my nose up at it, it was horrible.

  “I’m not trying that one on, it’s foul,” I protested.

  The sales assistant appeared offended at my remark. The other girls also noticed the sullen look on the lady’s face.

  Nessa grabbed the dress and forced it toward me, gritting her teeth. “Just try it on, Indy.”

  Nessa’s assertiveness was warranted, I shouldn’t have been so rude. My bogan ways gets the better of me most of the time.

  I went back into the dressing room. Taking as much care as possible, I stepped into the gown, trying not to knock off any of the beads or sparkles as I pulled it up. Without even looking in the mirror I called out, “No, it looks like crap.”

  “Get your ass out here now, Indy,” said Nessa, on the verge of having a mental breakdown. “Fine! Can I please get the side done up?”

  Nessa took her time to reply. I realized she was counting to ten to calm herself before she lost her shit.

  I stepped out of the room, avoiding eye contact with the girls. Their silence made me think it looked just awful.

  I opened my eyes. The front of this dress was very plain, though the exposed back accentuated my toned and sexy figure, while exaggerating my feminine traits.

  I stared at the beautiful girl in the mirror, her fair blonde hair and golden eyes represented a living angel. I couldn’t open my mouth to form coherent words, my eyes became wet. For the first time in hundreds of years I felt like a real angel again, the yearning within my soul ached for my wings. I tore my eyes away from the mirror, re-entered the dressing room and took off the gown. I handed the dress back to the assistant as carefully as possible.

  “I’m going to take it, thank you.” My time for shining was over.

  Nessa had narrowed her choice down to only two gowns, trying the first one on again. I held my breath in awe. This was the one for her and everyone else had the same speechless reaction. This dress had a sky blue bodice with tiny bits of pink and purple material criss-crossing from her breast to her waist. The love heart cut was trimmed in silver diamantes. Attached to the bodice was a tulle skirt which fanned out and touched the ground. There was nothing simple about this gown, it had princess written all over it.

  Nessa flashed her parents’ credit card and the dress was hers in seconds. We were all ready to go, or so I thought. The sales assistant handed Corrina a large white bag which clearly had her own grad dress inside. Casey and myself were shocked that Corrina had found a dress without theatrics involved, Nessa smiled to herself. Obviously she knew each and everyone one of us better than we knew ourselves.

  Corrina was ready to go and we headed to the car; I hadn’t planned this well and hoped it all worked out.

  “Hey, could I skip dinner? I want to meet someone instead.”

  “Why?” asked Nessa. She was immediately suspicious; the other girls were shocked, too.

  “I just have to see someone—please go and eat without me.”

  “Who are you meeting?” asked Corrina.

  “No one.” I tried to act as innocent as possible; they would never guess the real reason.

  “Is it a guy?” Casey was straight to the point.

  “No,” was all I said.

  “So it doesn’t matter if Nate knows about it,” replied Casey.

  “Um no, we’d better keep this to ourselves.”

  This comment landed me a questionable look from both Nessa and Casey. They both liked Nate and didn’t want to lie when the boys asked us tomorrow how our trip was. I couldn’t tell them the truth, no one else was going to find out about me.

  I gave the address to Mandy’s and was dropped off. The house looked very quiet. I knocked on the front door. A pretty middle-aged brunette opened up the door but kept the screen locked.

  “Hi, I’m Indy.” Mandy looked at me, not believing my words. Her eyes travelled up and down my youthful body.

  “You don’t look old enough to be the lady I talked with on the phone.”

  “I assure you I am. All of the details you’ll need to enter the safe house are in this envelope. We need to get you out of here—I don’t have long.”

  This was the final test for Mandy—should she place her faith in someone who appeared so young? I’d find out soon. The end of the day was approaching and I wanted her to be there by nightfall. Mandy’s hand unlocked the screen door and let me inside. There were two boxes neatly stacked up against the wall. I had to assume they were all she was taking. This house had many valuable objects, rich with memories Mandy was willing to leave behind. I had to feel pity for her—these two boxes would have been hard to fill. Decisions over material possessions, versus basic needs was always hard to make. Mandy ran from room to room, softly whispering a name; ‘Chloe, Chloe.’ I followed as she searched. A tiny whimper came from the laundry closet. Opening up one of the sliding doors, Mandy scooped up a child around the age of one. I asked no questions—I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

  “Chloe hides when her father raises his voice.”

  Walking towards the front door, I picked up the first box and carried it to Mandy’s car while she strapped Chloe into the booster seat. I headed back for the second box, this one was heavier and required some manpower. Apart from the lifting, this was an easy job and I didn’t need to be here after all. I always jinx myself; even thinking the word easy was a bad omen. As Mandy was about to pull out of the driveway, a man parked his car out on the street. The passenger’s side window wound down, Mandy wanted to speak to me. I leaned down.

  “Indy, that’s my husband—he’s home early.”

  “I can handle the situation from here—drive off and go to the address I wrote on the envelope for you.”

  Mandy nodded, wound up the window, and drove off. I heard footsteps go inside the house—he had seen his wife drive off and paid little attention to the details of the boxes stacked up in the back, which were clearly visible. I waited for him… five four, three, two…

  “Who are you and where has my wife gone with my child?”

  Huge ugly nostrils flared rapidly as this little man demanded answers. I wasn’t scared of this guy. Obviously he suffered from little man syndrome and thought intimidation increased his size. Then this dude started to wave his hands around—he was still a little man in my eyes. The word dickhead sat on the tip of my tongue.

  “Mandy had better be home for dinner.”

  “Your wife has left you—expect a letter from your solicitor.”

  I turned away to walk down the road…a hand ran firmly down my ponytail. He didn’t yank on my hair but had a good grip as he played with it.

  “Where has Mandy gone?”

  He stroked the length of my hair as a form of bullying. I was going to ignore this butt-cheek and keep on waking, but his grip got tighter as he used my hair as an anchor. He needed to let go before this got worse for him. The rage inside me had jumped past the normal stages of escalating I was tethering on my lashing out phase. I held the anger as tightly as I could inside. .

  “Let go of my hair now,” I repeated.

  “Where is Mandy?”

  “I’m not going to tell you,” I said.

  With one hand he yanked my hair tighter and pulled my ponytail back, causing a crunching noise in my neck. We were outside in the open for all of the neighbors to see. He dragged me by my hair into his house, his grip loosening as he opened and closed the door. I could have got away then but I had t
his all planned out; I was going to use his technique against him.

  The next time he yanked my hair, I leaned right back into him and head-butted him as hard as I could. I wasn’t finished yet. I turned around and preceded to use his body as my personal punching bag to deliver a series of kidney punches. I could hardly believe he hadn’t been violent towards his wife over such a long period of time. The satisfaction I gained from punching him made up for his hair pulling episode.

  “That was for pulling my hair.”

  I gave him my usual threats to leave Mandy alone before leaving the house feeling ecstatic. This mood didn’t last for long. Waiting outside in the car were my three friends. This would look bad. I was beaming from the large amount of adrenalin pulsing through me and I was pulling my messy hair back up. It looked like I had just had some sexy time with some strange man. I knew this would kick me in the ass later.

  I climbed into the car and gazed into Nessa’s accusing eyes; she was peeved. Nessa was the only one who sat in silence. Disappointment filled her ridged body and grim face. She expected better from me even though I didn’t do what she was thinking.

  The whole way home, Corrina and Casey threw questions at me, ‘who was he, what about Nate, was he good in bed.’ The last question was from Corrina. I was the first one to be dropped off. I was glad to be home and skipped up my front steps.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nate

  Annoyance wasn’t even close to what I was feeling. If I had to scale my anger from 1 to 10, I would truly be in double digits.

  It wasn’t that I wanted to spoil Indy’s time with her friends, but surely with her life on the line, she had to understand the importance of sticking together. Don’t ask me what I would have done while they were doing girly stuff, but I would have occupied myself somehow.

  I also felt shitty because Mark and Brandon thought I honestly wanted to watch Indy try on dresses and be a part of her special time. I was a bloke, not some sissy pansy. I couldn’t care less what dress Indy picked out as long as it was half respectable. If she came back with that skanky piece of material Corrina had suggested, I was going to refuse to partner her to grad. A high slit up the thigh plus ample of cleavage, then throw in some lace-up straps on a dress which was better suited as lingerie was asking for trouble.