by G. Bailey
“Sir, but none of us knows how to fight at all,” a girl points out from our class.
“Miss Pennlop, I am aware everyone in here hasn’t got a clue how to use weapons, but there is something you are all forgetting,” he replies and crosses his arms against his chest. “In the world of angels, your bodies are reborn, and you now have fighting skills you never did as a human. This class is simply here to guide you in what your body already knows.”
“Now this is a class I’m excited for,” Riley whispers to me, and I roll my eyes.
“Everyone get a spear and stand in a circle around me,” Professor Badhur demands. Vesnia chooses a small black speak with silver ends, Riley gets the biggest spear he can with dragon symbols wrapped all around the white marble spear. I search through them as everyone chooses theirs until I find a deep red spear with black angel wings wrapped around it. The tip is silver and quite high with a long point. I pull it off the stand, feeling the weight, and I head back to the group, realising I’m the last one left and they are all staring at me. I slide into the space between Vesnia and Riley that they left for me and rest the spear in front of me, both my hands wrapped around it.
“Now one by one, I want you to attack me,” the clearly mad professor suggests. “Mr. Becker, you may go first.” Riley doesn’t need asking twice and runs at the professor, swinging his spear towards his chest. In one move, the professor grabs the end of the spear, pulling it towards him and grabbing Riley’s shirt. The next second, Riley is flying across the room and smacks into the wall on the other side. I take a step towards him, but the professor calls my name next, and it’s a warning, without him needing to say anything, not to go after Riley. I grip my spear tighter as I step forward towards the professor, who merely smiles.
“I don’t have a chance. You are a skilled fighter, so I give up,” I say, and I drop the spear on the floor, watching it bounce between us for a moment until the professor claps.
“To admit defeat is a strength all to itself. Running headfirst into a battle you know you cannot win is not the way of the angels,” the professor says, leaning down and picking up the spear. “Angels always, always win, and the only way to continue that in the future is to be smart, to train and become stronger than your opponent.”
He hands me my spear as Riley gets back to us, his cheeks bright red, and he won’t look at me. “Now each of you get in a line and follow my moves.”
We line up, and for the next hour, the professor teaches us how to hold our spears, how to attack with them and make perfect hits one after another. Eventually the professor makes us line up in teams, and I pick Riley.
“Did you know the answer and not tell me? It hurt like a bitch to get thrown across the room, Katy,” Riley asks as I block his spear, clashing it against mine. I push him off and continue to circle him as the professor instructed. When he takes a next step, I slam my spear down towards him, and he pushes me off, but the tip of my spear catches his shoulder.
“I didn’t know until I did it. Sorry if you hate me for that,” I say.
“I don’t hate you, but I don’t want to fail this academy and die,” Riley all but shouts, and my cheeks light up as I know everyone is staring.
“Riley, I’m not your enemy, you know that, right? This isn’t a competition,” I remind him.
“I know that,” he softly says, his whole attitude changing as he realises he has pushed me too far. “But it’s hard to share you with this academy. It just used to be us, you know?”
“In a small town with nothing to do, I remember,” I say with a smile. “We could get back to that one day.”
“We will always be angels, and angels don’t belong in tiny towns in the Lake District,” he reminds me, and I know he is right. Maybe we both need to look for a different future now.
Chapter 12
“Please find a seat, angels in training,” Professor Nina suggests as I get to the clearing in the gardens outside. There are little cushion seats dotted all around the clearing, and I close my eyes for a second, enjoying the warm air and the feel of the light on my face. The smell of all the plants nearby makes the air sweet, and for a moment, it doesn’t feel like I’m somewhere I don’t want to be, it feels relaxing. I find Riley near the front, and Vesnia follows me over as we both find a cushion nearby. He looks back, smiling tightly.
“Things are still weird with you two then?” Vesnia whispers to me.
“Same as always. Since we came here, that is,” I whisper back, wondering if there is some way I can fix my friendship with Riley. I know it’s super complicated between us, but I’m not sure how to fix something I don’t know how was broken in the first place. We can’t go back to the town where it was just us, day in and day out, but surely Riley knew that. No matter what paths our future took, it would change us.
Either way, he is my best friend, and I need to figure out a way to make him happy.
Professor Nina claps her hands a few times, and we all turn to see her stood in front of four light angels. “I will be handing you over to the final year light angel students after some brief words. As you all know, this year for new angels is a choice between the light angel side of your soul and the dark angel side. These two days once a week are to help you see what comes with the choice you will make. As the light angels are going first this year, I will leave you in their hands to explain more.”
Professor Nina spreads her wings wide and flies into the air, leaving us all staring in wonder until she disappears from sight.
“Right, it’s always awkward to begin with, but I’m Oliver. This is Teddy, Mike and Dave,” he introduces his friends, still with that overly big smile. “Light angels are the good guys, that’s what you should know first. We love to heal, to be kind, we cannot lie, and we are blessed with good luck. It comes in handy when you make a partnership with a dark angel and you are given a human to look after.”
“Are partnerships always between light and dark angels? Not two lights or darks?” Riley asks.
“Mr. Becker, it’s an honour to meet you, and the answer to your first question is yes. They must be a balance in the human’s decisions, an angel on each shoulder, if you will. Dark angels corrupt their human’s souls with sin and greed, and our job is to show them light,” he answers.
“Is it true that light and dark angels can’t have children together or be together in any sense?” Vesnia asks.
“That is true, but it’s more a choice than a rule. Light and dark angels do not make the best of friends, and that will not change in any future. When you make the choice, you will feel the difference the power of an angel makes in your soul,” Teddy answers her to explain.
“But enough with the depressing stuff, right?” Oliver says with a big grin that for some reason, I don’t want to smile back at. “We are going to start the class with meditation and then a small demonstration of your powers you could get as a light angel.”
“Close your eyes and listen to the world around you. Focus on the peace of the world,” Mike says to us as all four of them sit down. I place my hands in my lap and close my eyes, listening to the sounds of everyone breathing and not liking having to sit still for this amount of time. Eventually Mike calls out that we can open our eyes, and I see Oliver standing at the front, holding a pot with a small green plant in the middle of it. Very slowly the plant grows into the air into a small tree, and dozens of long branches stretch across the sky above us. I jump when something lands in my lap, and I look down to see a small red jewel that sparkles in the light.
“A gift from us to you,” Oliver says, and I look around to see everyone has a different coloured crystal in their hands. “Why don’t you all come and talk to a light angel and ask any questions you wish.”
Riley is up in seconds, walking over to Oliver, I suspect, and I follow him over. By the time I get through the other students, they are deep in conversation and laughing. Oliver places his hand on Riley’s shoulder as I get closer.
“Hey, I’m Kaitlyn Lightso
n,” I say, offering my hand to Oliver. He looks at it for a moment and then ignores me completely.
“Riley, I have a PlayStation 4 in my room. Want to ditch class and come play?”
“Yeah, man!” Riley all but shouts. “Later, Katy.” He calls to me as they both walk away. It becomes clear to me that light angels might look all holy and perfect, but on the inside? They can be just as dark as the rest of us.
Chapter 13
“What the hell is that noise?” I grumble, pushing back my covers and looking at the window. It’s still dark outside. I crawl out of my bed, following the sound of the thumping music to my door, and look out to see Jessica holding a stereo above her head with a line of barely dressed dark angels dancing next to her.
“Party time, bitches,” Jessica shouts as Vesnia opens the door, looking as half asleep as I am. “Especially you, Lightson!” she shouts, her voice cutting through my groggy senses and waking me up. “Get dressed into something sexy, everyone!” Without even acknowledging her, I slam my door shut and instantly wish it had a lock on it as Ves walks in, looking far more awake.
“We should get dressed and see what they want. They aren’t going to go away,” she replies and walks to my wardrobe, tugging it open. I pull my hair up into a messy ponytail as Vesnia chucks the only dress I have at me.
“Fine,” I mutter as Vesnia goes through the bathroom to her room to no doubt get ready. I pull off my pyjamas and slide into the silver dress I’ve never worn before. My mum bought it for me because she said it was on sale and it reminded her of me. The silver material is soft, sticking to my body almost perfectly and falling to my knees. It has a sweetheart neckline and gaps on the sides, showing off my ribs. Thankfully, it has a built-in bra, so I don’t need to wear one. I slide on my socks and Doc Martens before grabbing a packet of Parma Violets.
Not bothering with knocking, I head through the bathroom and into Vesnia’s room as she finishes brushing her long, kinda crazy but beautiful red hair. I pop a sweet into my mouth as I wait for her to put on her shoes, and we both head out into the corridor. Jessica and her backup angels are at the top of the stairs, and I eat another sweet for good luck as we head up to meet them. The music is still blasting loudly, and it makes me wonder if the teachers care at all. Jessica takes her time running her gaze over me, and whatever she sees, she clearly isn’t impressed with.
“Finally,” she overdramatically huffs and claps her hands. “The boys have already gone, but I suppose it doesn’t take them long to get ready for a party.”
“There’s a party?” Vesnia asks with interest.
“Of course! It’s the first day of seeing what dark angels really do for you guys, and hosting a party is a good way to see the action,” she replies and practically bounces to the door to the corridor. We all follow her through the academy and outside towards some of the cabins on the left side I haven’t been near yet. They are well hidden in the thick trees, but one of them stands out more than the others. The house is covered in angels sitting on the roof, on the porch and all over the grass outside. Fairy lights are wrapped around the thick bannisters and the edges of the roof, and the inside of the cabin has different coloured lights flashing through the glass as they move.
Vesnia hooks her arm in mine as we walk through the dark angels littering the grass, the heavy scent of alcohol filling my nose and making it twitch as we head into the cabin. Loud music blasts into me as much as the heat of the room does as we look around, and I have no clue where to glance first. The one half of the room is full of angels dancing in pairs, looking close to having sex as they enjoy the music, and the other side of the room is no better. Angels fill the sofas, practically eating each other’s faces off, but it doesn’t seem like they are doing more than that right now. I cough as I breathe in a mouthful of what I’m sure is weed, and I spot a few people smoking it near the entrance.
“You brought the new meat. Interesting, my queen,” a dark angel with mousy brown hair says to Jessica, before tugging her away to one of the sofas.
“The light and dark angels certainly have different ways,” I mutter to Vesnia as we move away from the door. Vesnia nods her head to a door at the back of the room, and we both go through it to a game room full of more dark angels. The pool table is now a drink table filled with every kind of alcoholic drink you could find. We carry on through and find the kitchen where Riley is talking with two light angels, the only light angels I’ve seen in here.
“There you are, we gotta go,” Riley states, grabbing my hand and tugging me to his side a little too roughly.
“What’s the rush?” I ask.
“Yeah, asshole. Don’t you like my house or my party?” Henry asks from somewhere very close behind me. I freeze as he places his hand on my waist and his body presses into mine, his breath moving my hair on the top of my head as Riley stares at him. For a moment, I see so much pain and anger in my best friend’s eyes that I want to tell him I will leave...but Henry is right. I actually want to see what dark angels are about, and if this is their way, then for now, I will have to play by their rules.
“No, and let my best friend go,” he bites out.
“What does your best friend want?” Henry sarcastically asks, clear humour in his voice, and Riley’s eyes drop to mine.
I know he is going to hate me before I’ve even spoken. “I want to stay. I want to know what dark angels do as much as you liked learning about light angels yesterday, Riley.” He stares at me in shock for a second before he changes his whole expression and drops my hand like it’s on fire.
“I never had you down for one of those girls,” he growls at me before walking away with his new light angel friends following behind him. Henry doesn’t move from my back nor take his hand off my waist as I suck in a deep breath of air.
“Thank you,” I say very quietly, not even wanting to hear the words myself.
“I don’t like bullies,” Henry whispers to me before letting me go. I turn around, but he is gone, disappearing into the crowds of people, and Ves hands me a drink.
“I knew you’d need one the moment Riley grabbed you,” she explains, and I tightly smile. “Let’s just have fun, yeah?”
“Why not?” I answer, and Ves laughs, pulling me through the house and into the dancers. For a few hours, I forget I’m surrounded by angels or that my best friend is mad at me, and I just dance, but in the corner of my eye, I see Henry always watching me, always letting me know I’m not alone.
“Which way is our room again?” Vesnia asks, and I giggle in response. I don’t have a clue, the academy all looks the same to me. We stumble down a corridor and find a door at the end, which Vesnia opens up, and we peer inside. The room has mirrored walls, and in the centre is a massive black, sleek piano.
“We had a piano at home, and I always loved playing. Watch!” I say, stumbling into the room as Ves follows, giggling away. She sits on the floor by the stool as I press a few keys before I start playing my favourite song to perfection. It’s not a song anyone would know because my mum said she learnt it from her mother, and her mother taught her before that. The song always spoke to me in the way that music can speak to everyone. No matter who you are in the world, good music always links us all. It shakes us to our core, making us feel emotions we haven’t before, and this is why I always loved it. The end part of the song makes me pick up speed on the notes, my fingers flying across the piano faster than I ever thought I could do before. As I press the last note, I sigh, letting out the joy of the memories I have with my mum teaching me that song.
I will see my parents again. It’s impossible to imagine that I won’t, and I can’t wait to see how happy they will be when they know I haven’t died. Clapping interrupts my thoughts, and I turn to see Thallon in the doorway, a big smile on his face. I glance at Ves, only to see she is fast asleep on the floor.
“When did you learn to play like that?” Thallon asks, stepping into the room.
“Erm...I...well,” I mutter.
�
��Sounds like erm is a good teacher,” he teases, and I blush. “But would you like me to help you carry your friend back to your room?”
“Yes, that would be great,” I say, standing up and feeling a little wobbly. Thallon notices and grins as he picks up Ves and flings her over his shoulder.
“First dark angel party, I’m guessing?” he asks, and I nod. “I always loved learning about the dark angels, and trust me, there is a reason for the parties.”
“I thought it was just to have fun,” I say, as that’s all I saw tonight.
“Then you need to look below the surface,” he suggests as we walk down the corridor. The only sound is our shoes against the stone and Ves’s snoring.
“Why don’t you have wings? Are you human or something else?” I ask, knowing the booze in my system is making me braver than I usually am.
“I never made a choice between the light and dark fire because they both call to me. I said I would choose, but it’s just never felt right over the years. Eventually, I’ve come to understand there must be a higher reason I can’t choose, and when the time is right, the light above will show me,” he beautifully says.
“It must be so beautiful to believe in something you have never seen,” I whisper, but he hears me.
“You believe in love? In trust? In hate and in lust? These are things we can never see, but we know they are real. My belief in the light above and his plan for us is the same,” he gently tells me.
“Then you are stuck here,” I reply, crossing my arms from the chill of the academy in the middle of the night. I’m so glad I can have a lie-in tomorrow and not have to worry about waking up early for class.
“For a reason, yes. Tell me, have you figured out what you want to do with your life yet?” he asks.
“I’m eighteen and currently had a weird year, so nope,” I answer, making him laugh. Gosh, he has a sexy laugh.