Angel in chains (Forever yours)

by Lind, Nellie C.

  “If you tell me what you are I will answer.”

  “Very well. Tell me what I look like to you.”

  Her gaze lowered from his face, and she looked him over from the bottom up. He was extremely attractive even if he looked weak and hurt, but it didn’t stop her from liking what she saw. In the last second, she stopped herself from licking her lips. That would just give him the wrong impression. She didn't want him to see how his presence affected her.

  “Well ... um ...” she started. “You have wings ...”

  “Good you noticed.” He smiled.

  Inez snorted, but smiled back. She liked that his eyes sparkled with life for a second. Just a short while ago they had looked so hollow, as if he had lost all his will to live. Her presence seemed to have a positive effect on him.

  “What else do you see?”Aledyan asked.

  A man that is too good looking, she wanted to say, but giving him ideas would not make things better. “An injured man,” she said instead.

  His smile disappeared. “Apart from that.”

  Inez remained silent. Seeing was definitely not believing this time.

  “Just say it. I know you know what I am.”

  She shook her head. “You can't be ... because if you are then you belong in a fairytale.”

  “Says who?”

  Inez opened her mouth, but couldn't answer. She just knew that most people said so. Angels didn't exist, not in her world.

  She looked at his wings. They lay on either side of him, dirty and in a mess. The feathers didn't seem to lay where they were supposed to. They seemed to need a very big comb to get into place. For some reason, she felt the need to get closer to him and gently caress them to show her support, but it would only cause him pain, and he most likely would not appreciate it. She remained where she stood, at a safe distance from him.

  “I'm not going to hurt you.”

  The way he said it made her think that he really meant it, but she didn't answer because she still didn't trust him. She didn't like the way he avoided her questions. Instead of giving her a “yes” or a “no” he fumbled around the topic.

  Inez sighed and felt that the backpack was starting to get heavy. She decided that she could risk putting it down for a while. Once it was on the ground her back felt a lot better.

  “Angels have wings ...” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “And ... demons.”

  Her heart started to beat fast when his face became serious, but she saw no anger, only disappointment.

  “If I were a demon, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You would have left this cave screaming in fear.”

  “And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?”

  “You don't have to, but I'm telling you the truth.” He closed his eyes for a short while and took a deep breath. “There's so much out there that you know nothing about. You live in a world where you are protected from everything that can harm you. As long as you don't see them, they don't see you, but once you open your eyes you become an easy target, unless you know how to defend yourself.”

  Inez stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Demons and other creatures I know that you have never heard of.”

  She swallowed nervously. “So you are saying that ...”

  Aledyan nodded. “With one simple look at me your eyes opened, even if your mind isn't yet willing to accept my existence.”

  “You can't be serious!”

  “I can assure you that I am, but that protection also means that you aren't able to see other things.”

  “Like angels?”

  “Like angels,” he confirmed.

  Inez shook her head in confusion. “But I can see you.”

  “Thanks to this cave. Angels usually reside in other dimensions or the astral plane, but some of us decide sometimes to incarnate. You can pass us on the street without knowing or seeing who we really are because you will only see a human.”

  Inez couldn't stop herself from laughing. “So you are saying that angels in human bodies are walking around out there?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “I don't believe that. As far as I know there's nothing after death or before life either for that matter.”

  “You believe that because you don't remember.”

  “Yeah, right,” she said and started to feel an ache in her legs. Without a second thought, she sat down with her back against the cave wall near to where she had stood.

  His words sounded surreal. He couldn't be telling the truth, but when she looked at him she saw the wings. They were as real as he was. She wasn't imagining him.

  “So once you get out of here I won't be able to see you anymore?”

  “Both yes and no. This cave is placed between the astral plane and the physical plane. It was created by the one who placed me here, and it was created specifically to imprison an angel.” He paused for a second and looked at her as if he made sure that she was still following. “If I leave this place you will be able to sense my presence and see me inside your dreams and visions.”

  “But I won't be able to ... touch you?” Inez felt her body tense. The thought of touching him filled her with longing. She didn't understand why she felt this way. She couldn't even explain it to herself. It was simply there, the feeling and need to touch him. It had been there from the first minute she had laid eyes on him, but she would never tell him. He was an angel and she a human. They didn't belong together she told herself.

  Aledyan remained still for a while and just looked at her. Did he see what she was trying to hide? She hoped not.

  “No, you won't,” he answered.

  Chapter 5

  Aledyan couldn't understand why his heart was beating so fast. Her question had caused it. What had she meant by it? Did she want to touch him? Or had it just been a rhetorical question?

  She seemed nervous again, and avoided looking directly into his eyes. Instead, she grabbed her backpack and opened it. The strange looking bag was big, black and filled to its limits. The material it was made from made him realize that he had been in here for a long time and that many things had changed on the outside.

  Inez took out a transparent bottle that was not made of glass. She twisted the cap and took a few sips.

  “What is that?” he asked.

  Inez gave him a surprised look. “It's mineral water.”

  “I mean the bottle.”

  She looked even more surprised.

  “I've been in here for quite awhile you know,” he reminded her.

  “Oh, right. Well, it's called plastic. It has been used for a few decades and has replaced glass bottles among other things.”

  “Why?”

  She put on the cap and closed the bottle. ”Because it doesn't break as glass does.” She dropped the bottle to show him. The bottle landed on the ground. "See? And it's also a lot lighter than glass.”

  Aledyan reached out his hand toward her. “May I take a look?”

  Silence swept through the cave. She didn't seem sure what do to because she knew it meant that she had to get close to him to hand him the bottle. Aledyan could feel the expectation grow within him. He really did want her to come closer. Why, he couldn't tell. Maybe it was his loneliness talking or maybe it was because her pretty face appealed to him.

  He wanted her to trust him. He wanted her to feel safe around him. He needed it if he was ever going to get out of here, but something told him that there was also another reason why he wanted her trust.

  “May I?” he asked again without lowering his hand.

  Inez slowly got up on her feet. She was looking at him all the time as if she expected him to do something sudden. Aledyan made sure not to move. He didn't want to scare her away.

  She approached him carefully, taking one step at the time, and when she was close enough she leaned forward and handed the bottle over to him. He gently grabbed it, and when doing so his finger accidentally touched hers.

  The touch sen
d a shiver through his body, and he heard her gasp. She immediately pulled her hand back, straightened her body and jumped a few steps back.

  Aledyan tried not to pay attention to her reaction, even if it hurt him on the inside. At least she didn't run back to where she had been sitting.

  He looked at the bottle in his hands, and he found the soft and smooth material interesting. The white and blue paper label on the bottle looked beautiful, and he couldn't figure out how someone could write the letters so perfectly.

  “I sure have missed a lot,” he said.

  “Well, many things have changed these last two hundred years.”

  “They sure have.”

  Inez didn't move from the spot she stood on. Although he wasn't looking directly at her, he could see that she watched him. He wanted her to stay, and tried to look calm, but on the inside he felt tense. A sudden move would make her run back to where her bag was, at a safe distance away from him.

  Then he heard her sigh. He raised his head and saw her take a deep breath before her body relaxed.

  “Are you thirsty?” she asked. “Or maybe hungry?”

  He gave her a surprised look, but she didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she went back to her backpack and brought it with her before she sat down next to him. She was sitting close. He definitely hadn't expected this from her, not so soon.

  She started to take one thing after another out of the bag, and all he could do was watch with fascination.

  Chapter 6

  Inez was too nervous to sit this close to him, but she decided that it was time to stop being childish and give him a chance. He hadn't done anything to hurt her, and she started to doubt that he ever would. There were no signs of hatred or aggression in his eyes, and she should know. She was way too familiar with those kind of signs. Besides, he was injured and in pain.

  Inez picked up her plastic cup from the backpack and filled it with water before she handed it to him.

  “Here,” she said. “Drink. It's just water.”

  He grabbed the cup slowly as if he was still afraid that he would scare her away, but when he touched her finger the second time she knew he had done that deliberately. This time she didn't jump back. Instead, she met his gaze.

  “Sorry,” he said and pulled his hand back along with the cup. “I just needed to make sure that you are real, that I'm not dreaming you up.”

  Inez smiled and grabbed his other hand to prove him wrong, but the action made her whole body react. Her heart started to beat fast yet again, but this time in a good way and not because of fear. This time it was because of something she couldn't really place.

  “See?” she said and squeezed his hand carefully. “I'm real.”

  He gave her an unsure smile. “Yes ... yes, you are.”

  Before the situation became too awkward, she pulled her hand back and cleared her throat. Again, she started to search through her backpack for one of the sandwiches she had brought along. Once she had it in her hand, she noticed that he still hadn't drank his water.

  “You don't want it?” she asked.

  “I haven't eaten or drank anything for over two hundred years. I never had to in here.”

  Inez looked around inside the cave and she knew he was telling the truth. There was no furniture or any other comforts anywhere.

  “You don't sleep either?” she asked.

  “I sleep. I have a resting room over there.” He nodded toward the area filled with lingering shadows where she had first seen him appear. The area was too dark for her to see what was hiding in there.

  Aledyan raised the cup to his lips and tasted the water. He closed his eyes and sighed when the first sip went down his throat. He enjoyed every second of it as if the water was the best thing he had ever drank.

  She handed him a sandwich. “It's butter and cheese, but remove the plastic before you eat it.”

  He examined the thin plastic sheet covering the sandwich with big eyes. Inez couldn't help but smile.

  “This is very good,” he said after taking the first bite.

  “I'm glad you like it.” Inez closed the backpack before making herself comfortable on the ground. “Will you tell me about your wings now?”

  Aledyan was silent for a long while as if he were thinking things through. Maybe he was wondering what he should tell her, and what he should not. All Inez could do was hope that he would be honest, but that honesty meant most likely a not so pleasant story. Someone had put him in here for a reason, and that reason had to be to hurt him, not to imprison him from the world.

  “Yorin, that's the name of a warlock,” he started.

  Inez tried to remain still, and just listen. She needed him to tell her everything. She couldn't tell why, but for some reason she cared about him.

  “Yorin is one of the most powerful warlocks out there, but he uses his abilities for egoistic reasons. He wants power, and that's all he cares about. Anyone who stands in his way is ... removed.” Aledyan looked around in the cave. “It took him many years, and a huge amount of his power to create this place. But once it was done all he needed was an angel to sustain his dirty needs.”

  Chapter 7

  Aledyan lowered his gaze when the memories from the past came over him. He had tried not to think about it because it would do him no good, but now he had to. The memories were painful, and they hit him like a knife in the chest. If only he had listened ...

  “I received orders from my leaders about this human, Yorin, whose powers had to be sealed away. They never told me why, but they wanted me to keep an eye on him.”

  Aledyan looked around inside the dim cave. He felt as empty on the inside as the cave was. A sad atmosphere surrounded them, and there was nothing to see apart from the stone walls, the sand on the ground, the shadows and the torches. He couldn't remember how many times he had stared at the torches and the walls throughout the years. He knew them very well by now. There was no inch of the cave that was unexplored by him.

  For a short moment, he looked at Inez and noticed interest in her eyes. She waited for him to continue. He liked that.

  “Could he sense you?” she asked.

  ”Of course, but I kept my distance. You see, Yorin can do a lot more than just sense me. He can even see and touch me.”

  Inez's eyes grew big from surprise. ”But you said that ...”

  “There are exceptions. There are a few people out there who can see and touch us who dwell in the astral plane.”

  “I see.”

  Aledyan noticed that she moved a little bit closer. It made his heart beat faster. Maybe she was getting used to him.

  “So what happened?” she asked.

  “I went to take a look at him. My friends told me that I shouldn't go alone. They had bad feelings about Yorin, but I didn't listen. I was naive and stupid. I just couldn't see how a single human could be as strong as they claimed him to be. I had never heard of anything like that before.”

  Inez didn't seem to be aware that her knee was touching his leg. Instead she seemed to be listening with great interest to his story, but her touch sent shivers throughout his entire body. It made it difficult for him to focus, but he didn't want to move. Instead, he wanted to pull her into his arms. He couldn't understand why he longed for her touch, but he did. It made him feel sad because he knew what he needed to do to be set free. Everything inside him screamed that he shouldn't hurt her, that it was the worst thing he could do. She looked so sweet and innocent. Her beauty appealed to him more and more. But there was only one way out of this, and Inez was the key ...

  Aledyan swallowed, and tried not to think about what would happen if he managed to gain her trust.

  “I didn't see it coming,” he said. “He used his magic on me, and I was without a chance. Before I knew it, I was in here.”

  “How is that possible? I mean, what did he do to catch you?”

  Aledyan shrugged. “I don't know. I don't know much about how a warlock's powers work, but I shouldn't have taken him for granted.
He waited for me to come close enough, and somehow he managed to pull me out from the astral plane and into this cave. He had waited a long time for that moment.”

  Inez looked straight at him with sorrow in her beautiful eyes. He could see that her trust for him grew. It made him smile, but at the same time it made him feel even more hollow. It wasn't in him to take advantage of an innocent, but he had to get out of here. He just wished he knew how on earth he would ever be able to go through with it.

  “Why is he keeping you here?” Inez asked.

  “To stay alive.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Aledyan straightened his back and moved his heavy wings. They didn't hurt that much anymore, and with that he knew the time was coming.

  “Yorin may be a warlock, but he is still a human. Humans eventually die. Yorin wanted eternal life. He discovered that all he needed to do was to catch an angel and feed on his life force.”

  Anger toward Yorin's actions were written all over her face. It made him glad that she didn't doubt his words anymore.

  “He returns every ten years and gives me my strength back so that I can survive another draining of my life force. By doing so, he gains another ten years in life.”

  “So your wings ... ”

  “They look like this because he is keeping me weak. I don't have the strength to keep them up. I can barely stand on my feet. Most of the time I just lie on my bed, exhausted and so tired that I'm fading in and out of consciousness.”

  “But you don't look like that now,” she said with a confused look on her face.

  “No. That's because the cave has opened. A few days before it opens my strength starts returning to me, but I'm still weak, and I will be until he comes here and makes me strong again for a few days.”

  Inez reached her hand out and placed it against his cheek. Aledyan winced and stared at her. He hadn't expected that, but her touch felt like heaven. He couldn't help but moan. His loneliness would one day be the death of him, but this woman made him feel more alive than he had ever felt before. He wanted to touch her too. He needed it. The feeling grew stronger fast, and he managed to stop himself in the last minute. He doubted that she trusted him enough for his touch yet.