The Sun Angel

by Ashley Martinez

  “Jenna! William!” Their teacher stood before them, fuming. “What have you done to this specimen?”

  “We were a little enthusiastic, Mrs. Schwartz,” Jenna widened her eyes in innocence, but Will could see their color flare.

  Mrs. Schwartz stepped back, disgust written plainly on her face, “I can see that. If this happens again I’ll have no choice but to fail you in my class. Consider this your first and only warning.”

  “But-“ Jenna stammered clearly surprised by Mrs. Schwartz’s harsh reaction.

  “You’ve been warned,” the teacher glared at Jenna then turned and hurried back to her desk..

  “What just happened?” Jenna whispered to herself completely forgetting Will sitting next to her.

  “You tried too hard,” Will answered.

  “Too hard with what?” she turned to him with tears in her eyes.

  “Don’t cry,” He rolled his eyes, though he felt bad for her. “You should’ve just let me do the talking since it was me who messed up the project.”

  She nodded, wiping her eyes free from tears, “Sorry for getting upset. It just surprised me that’s all.”

  “Yeah, don’t let it happen again,” he said as the bell rang. They cleaned up their station in silence, and Will left without another word.

  Jenna walked in a daze to her locker after her last hour. She couldn’t take her mind off Will and how his skin had been so cold. Actually, she wasn’t sure whose skin it was, so she reached out and brushed her hand against someone walking down the hall in the crush of students. Her experiment left her even more bewildered. The person’s skin had been normal, not too cold or warm. So why was Will’s skin so cold?

  Jenna walked outside, smiling as she looked up to the sun. It had been a really good day, and she wanted to stay in the sun’s rays, so she walked home instead of riding the bus, even though it was a good half hour walk.

  She wandered through town stopping every now and again to window shop. It wasn’t until she was at the edge of town when she felt a prickle of fear she’d never experienced before. The sun didn’t feel so warm or happy to her anymore. Jenna peered down an alleyway but couldn’t see anything, just a couple dumpsters and some stray cats. There was something down there, and somehow she knew it was evil.

  “Well who do we have here?” An oily voice asked behind her.

  Jenna whipped around in alarm; she hadn’t heard anyone come up, yet there was a man standing before her.

  “My, my, you’ve got some strange eyes,” the stranger leaned into her causing her to back up into the alley. “What color is that? Gold? Hmm, I’ve seen honey colored eyes but never gold. Plus there’s a shine to yours. Wonder what I could get for them…”

  “Ex…Excuse me?” Jenna stammered backing up several more feet from the stranger. She began using everything her father had taught her about meeting strangers, memorizing anything and everything. She took him in, studying his brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail to his shiny black boots. He wore all black, including a black trench coat.

  “How attached are you to those eyes?” The man now had a knife out wagging it around conversationally.

  Jenna blanched and began looking around frantically for an escape, but the stranger had cornered her in the alley, which unfortunately dead-ended. There wasn’t anywhere to go as she’d backed past the shop’s side doors and crept closer to the dumpsters.

  As she looked, back she noticed for the first time eyes in the shadows. They looked to be a dog’s and she could even hear it growling in warning. Jenna would rather take on a dog than this man with a knife that wanted to cut her eyes out.

  “I haven’t got all day, girly.” The man now was impatient and wanted this over with.

  He lunged and Jenna jumped back and a scream burst from her lips. Frantically trying to get away from him she turned and ran but he tackled her to the ground.

  “Hush, now, girly. This’ll be over with soon,” he panted as she struggled against his grip.

  The dog, or whatever it was, gave a ferocious bark and leaped at Jenna. She screamed as teeth clamped down on her arm but screamed even louder when the man, now sitting on top her chest, grabbed her by the chin. Her vision clouded with panic and fear but Jenna continued to fight against her two assailants. The dog gave a strong yank and she was pulled out from underneath the man. He scrambled for her arm and pulled back.. She felt like she was in a tug of war and she was the rope. The dog tugged again.

  “What the…?” the man whispered to himself and pulled at her harder.

  Jenna whimpered in the pain before she screamed again, thrashing around trying to free herself..

  “Alright, that’s enough,” a strong irritated voice broke in.

  The dog immediately let go with a whine, but the man still held on tight to Jenna. Relief swept through her as she recognized Will’s voice

  “Who’s there?” the man clutched Jenna around the neck with his arm, putting her in front of him as a shield.

  Will stepped out of the shadow looking terrifying. He pulled himself up to full height, which Jenna realized was taller than she’d thought. His muscles tensed ready to spring into action. She was so taken back by his strong appearance she forgot where she was and couldn’t help but stare at the powerful man before her.

  “Let her go,” Will warned the stranger. He was full of rage that he’d lost Jenna but was murderous over the situation he found her in. He knew he was exuding his power, but at the moment, he didn’t care enough to hold back.

  The man’s gripped slackened at Will’s powerful presence but sheer survival kept him holding on to Jenna. Tightening his grip almost to the point of choking her he yelled out, “Get back or she dies!”

  Will’s eyes narrowed in annoyance, “I’ll give you one more chance, something that is very generous of me, by the way.”

  “No! I said back up!” he brought the knife up to Jenna’s throat.

  Jenna gulped in fear unable to scream caused by his other arm around her throat. She closed her eyes and begged this to end quickly.

  “Time’s up,” Will growled before he lunged too quickly for the human eye. Jenna didn’t feel anything but knew the man was no longer holding her. She kept her eyes shut in fear, her throat too raw to scream any longer.

  “What do you think you’re doing down here?” Will’s voice was in front of her, his eyes watching her.

  She peeked with one eye to make sure it was over before opening them both. Will was leaning in, anger written all over his face.

  “What happened?” She started to turn to look behind her, but Will grabbed her shoulders to stop her. She could feel his cold touch through her light shirt.

  He quickly let her go. “I wouldn’t look back.”

  “What did you do to him?” she still didn’t have the strength in her voice.

  “Let’s go,” he ignored her and started back out the alley, “and you better hurry; there’s other things in here that would like to make a snack out of you.”

  “What?!” Jenna finally found her voice. She glanced back and immediately wished she hadn’t. She could see the man’s body lying on the ground in a mangled heap of bones and blood.

  “I told you not to look,” Will rolled his eyes, noting how Jenna was still just as stubborn as he remembered.

  “What do you mean, ‘There’s other things in there?’” She caught up to him.

  “How’s your arm?” he covertly glancing around for any more threats or danger. Luckily for him, evil usually avoided him.

  Jenna rubbed her arm where the dog had bitten but was surprised to find nothing there. “Hey! What happened?”

  Will smiled to himself; he was right about who she was. No one would heal that fast from a Grim’s bite.

  “Will, stop,” she grabbed his arm to stop him. She ignored the coldness that seeped from his arm into her hand.

  “Doesn’t that hurt?” he asked looking down at her hand on his arm.

  “What? Touching you?” Jen
na kept her hand on him, strangely not wanting to let him go.

  “Yes, isn’t it cold?” He watched her reaction closely trying to determine if she would lie.

  Jenna nodded, “It’s cold but not freezing. Why is that?”

  “I don’t know,” he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

  “Yes you do,” she put her hands on hips in defiance. She knew he was lying. “It’s only you. I tested it.”

  “Oh you did, did you?” Will smirked.

  “Don’t make fun of me. I touched someone else’s skin and theirs was normal, but yours makes me cold. Why?”

  “I told you,” his eyes narrowing in anger, “I. Don’t. Know.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Whatever,” he started walking off in the opposite direction of the way Jenna had to go. She was starting to test his patience.

  “Don’t walk away from me.” She grabbed his arm again.

  Will turned so quickly she hadn’t seen him move. His posture was stiff as he tried to remain calm, “Don’t touch me,” he hissed.

  Hurt crossed Jenna’s face and immediately Will felt bad, but he had to make sure she didn’t and wouldn’t trust him. He was not her friend.

  “I’m sorry,” Jenna mumbled as she brushed tears away. “Thank you for what you did back there.”

  She turned and ran ignoring Will as he called out after her. She felt her heart ache. She hated Will for hurting her, but she mostly hated herself for letting someone in when clearly she was meant to be alone.

  Will watched as Jenna ran away from him. It was better for her to run from him than seek him out. She didn’t know the danger he presented to her. She was blind at the moment, but it wouldn’t be too much longer before she knew the truth of their past. She would know they were enemies and that he was here to destroy her.

  Chapter Two

  Looking around, Jenna noticed she was in a white room with white walls and a white throne. The only color to the small room was the blue rug in the center sitting in front of the throne but not touching it. The throne itself was immaculate despite its lack of color. The wood carvings were so detailed and beautiful the pattern strongly resembled leaves. They traveled up from the legs of the chair to the arms and back, ending at the top surrounding what Jenna could only guess was a sun.

  “Beautiful isn’t it?” a soft tinkling voice said behind her

  Jenna whipped around in alarm to find a woman eerily resembling herself, despite the hair. This woman’s hair was a dark auburn tied back into a braid cascading down her back. The dress she worn was fit for a queen and was white, the same as the room. It shimmered as the woman moved.

  “Who are you?” Jenna glanced around the room looking for anyway to escape.

  The woman smiled, her gold eyes shining, “You are safe here, do not worry.”

  “Where am I?”

  “In a dream,” the woman walked around her toward the throne but didn’t sit. “You are asleep safe and sound in your room.”

  “Who are you?” Jenna asked again.

  “I am many things, but you may call me Eliana.”

  “What do you want?”

  “My, my,” Eliana chuckled. “You don’t waste time getting to the point. Just like your father.”

  “You know my dad?”

  “Yes, child, I do.”

  “How?”

  “That doesn’t matter,” she threw her long shimmering dress behind her and began walking back to Jenna. “I’ve come to—“

  A loud hissing sound filled the room and Eliana looked up in alarm before rushing to Jenna grabbing her arms tightly making Jenna wince from the pressure.

  “Jenna, dear, you have to find out who you are. I haven’t got much time, someone is trying to break in and listen.”

  “What?”

  “Hush, dear!” Eliana closed her eyes tightly still keeping her hold on Jenna. “You need to find out who you are, the worlds depend on it.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Trust me,” Eliana gasped. “I can’t hold them back. You have to wake up.”

  “I don’t know how,” Jenna was scared unsure of what to make of this woman and her message.

  “Wake up, now!”

  Jenna pulled away from the woman and tried shaking herself awake. The white room along with Eliana began to dissolve and Jenna was thrust up into nothingness until finally she sat up in her bed gasping for air.

  What in the world had just happened? She moved to push back her hair out of her face and that’s when she noticed the red handprints from where Eliana had gripped her arms. Jenna began shaking and she swallowed a lump of fear in her throat. That woman had been real. What did she mean by Jenna had to find herself? And what was this talk about the world, no worlds, depending on her? She fell back on her bed, what was going on?

  ***

  Jenna had a miserable weekend. It started with her dad being gone most of the time, but when he was home, he set her nerves on edge. He paced around the house muttering to himself about something closing in but whenever Jenna asked, he brushed her off saying it was about work. Not only that but Eliana returned to her dreams every night since then, only to tell Jenna she had to find herself.

  For the first time, Jenna was glad it was Monday. Though she didn’t want to face Will after their last confrontation, she had a plan for him. She’d just ignore him, simple as that.

  Jenna sighed heavily as she left her second hour class. She wished more than anything to be somewhere else than this awful town. School wasn’t the escape she was hoping for, instead she’d been picked on by the teacher when she hadn’t been paying attention and then none of the kids wanted to be her partner, so she had to work alone.

  “Excuse me!” Angie’s whiny voice interrupted Jenna as she got her homework out of her locker.

  Jenna didn’t say anything but turned expectantly to Angie; she was in no mood to deal with her.

  “Don’t think you can push me just because you’re depressed,” Angie glared at her.

  “Sorry, guess I didn’t see you,” Jenna mumbled already closing her locker door and backing away.

  “You didn’t see me?” Angie scoffed. “I find that highly unlikely.”

  “Whatever,” Jenna shook her head and turned.

  “Now wait a minute,” she grabbed Jenna’s shoulder and turned her back around. “I wasn’t done talking to you, creep.”

  “Angie,” Jenna sighed closing her eyes. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

  “I don’t care. You pissed me off.”

  “Sorry. Now can we be done?”

  “Listen here, you freak,” Angie leaned in close. “If you get in my way again, I won’t be so nice. In fact I’d avoid me if I were you. I can make your life hell, even more than what it already is.”

  As Angie spoke the last words, she tipped over her red soda all over Jenna’s homework and shirt then stalked off in the direction of their third hour class,.

  “Whoa!” a new voice Jenna didn’t recognize came up to her. “Did that chick really just dump her soda on you?”

  Jenna’s locker was already open, and she was mopping up the colorful mess on her paper. She blotted at it hoping it was salvageable.

  “Here, let me help you,” the new girl flicked her short dark brown hair as she unzipped her backpack.

  “That’s okay,” Jenna smiled at her. “I’ve got it.”

  “Why did that girl dump her drink on you?” the girl asked ignoring Jenna pulling an extra shirt out of her bag then handing it over to Jenna.

  “She hates me,” Jenna shrugged taking the shirt. “Who are you?”

  “Name’s Elena, but you can call me Lena.” She offered her hand.

  Jenna shook her hand, “I’m Jenna. Are you new here?”

  “Sure am. Maybe you can tell me where to go,” Lena held out her class schedule.

  “You have third hour with me,” Jenna smiled. “And fourth and sixth! Wow, that’s a lot.”

  “Really? That�
�s cool,” Lena took her schedule back and stuffed it in her pocket.

  “Thanks for the shirt,” Jenna said after she had changed quickly in the bathroom.

  “No problem, I don’t even know why it was in there,” Lena shrugged. “Sorry if it’s dirty.”

  “It’s better than being all wet!” Jenna laughed. “Come on, or we’ll be late.”

  “So is our teacher cool?”

  “I guess,” Jenna muttered. She thought he was cool, but he never included her in his lessons like he did the other kids.

  “What’s his name?” Lena whispered as they entered the room.

  “Mr. A.”

  Lena grabbed Jenna’s ruined homework and marched up to the teacher. Jenna stood back horrified at what Lena was about to do.

  “Lena, no!” she whispered frantically to stop the girl, but Lena ignored her and slammed the paper on the teacher’s desk.

  “What’s this?” Mr. A leaned back in surprise.

  “This is Jenna’s homework,” Lena stated.

  “Jenna?” Mr. A looked over at her. “Again?”

  “Sorry, sir,” Jenna mumbled blushing and looking down.

  “It didn’t look like this five minutes ago,” Lena interrupted the teacher. “Five minutes ago a girl dumped her drink all over it.”

  “Who?” Mr. A asked Jenna.

  “That one, right there,” Lena answered for her, pointing right at Angie who feigned innocence.

  “Angie, please come up here,” Mr. A sighed heavily, probably not wanting to deal with this.

  “Yes, Mr. A?” Angie was trying too hard, Jenna could clearly see that, but it’s not like the teacher was going to side with Jenna just because he knew Angie was lying.

  “Did you spill your drink on Jenna’s homework?”

  “Dumped. Spilling would indicate it was an accident,” Lena butted in.

  “No! I would never do that!” Angie’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Besides, I still have my soda, and it’s not red; it’s Dr. Pepper.”

  “Alright, you can go sit back down,” Mr. A had heard what he needed to hear to dismiss the argument.

  “What the hell?” Lena watched Angie smirk as she went back to her seat.