Death by Angel

Chapter 1

I held tightly onto dads hand as the busy crowd pushed past. With my thumb in my mouth and the other hand firmly locked inside dads, I knew I was safe. He would never let anything bad happen to me. He looked down at me, a friendly warm smile across his face; I returned his smile with a toothless one.  I had lost one of my front teeth just days before. An accident of course. He pulled me closer, one of his arms relaxing over my small shoulders.

“Why did we come here on the busiest day…”  Dad whispered to himself. I gazed around in a day-dream; my eyes came to meet something on the floor. Something that wasn’t moving. I pulled away from dad, everything seemed to move in slow motion. My hand reached out towards the lifeless body on the floor, I was amazed. It looked like it was sleeping, almost as if it was still breathing. But the stench told a different story. I was almost touching it when I felt my body being pulled away. I looked up startled.

“Angel! What are you doing?! Don’t touch that!!” Dad raised his voice, but he would never shout at me. I was his only daughter.

“But, Daddy...” I mumbled. He took my hand, pulling me away from my dead creature, I sighed trying to drag my feet but dad pressed forwards. I stuck my thumb back in my mouth and continued to day dream wondering what it would be like to feel the body in my hands. But now I would never know.

We approached an old run down shop. The paint was barely hanging onto the wood frame, the colours had faded and the windows looking into the shop was full of dust. On the front of the building it said ‘Anna’s Antiques’ what a lovely name for such a horrible looking shop.

“Now, Angel. Remember this shop is very old, and a lot of the objects in the shop are old too, so be careful about what you touch” Dad said to me, I nodded quickly. Last thing I wanted was to break something and have dad pay for it. We entered the shop a small bell rang out which echoed around the room. The shop look abandoned. Everything was covered in dust. From the floorboards to the lights. I could feel a sneeze creeping its way up my nose, but I quickly covered it with my hand, making sure it wouldn’t escape. Dad looked at me cautiously, he stepped in front heading towards the desk. I waited and watched; afraid I would break anything from even breathing. A small bell sat on the counter. Dad pressed down on the bell

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Dad spoke. The sunlight came beaming into the shop from nowhere. The dust created a beautiful effect. Everything seemed to glow. I looked around, a crystal shaped horse stood on a table, I slowly approached it, my hands reaching out wanting to touch the shiny object. I quickly looked over at Dad, he wasn’t paying attention. Still looking for someone who owned the shop.

 I silently crept towards the statue; I was determined to hold it. Or at least touch it. My hands were almost on the stunning horse’s mane when something else caught my attention. In the corner of my eye I could see something. Something that was staring back at me.

‘Angel…’ I looked in the direction my name was being spoken. A teddy bear sat in the sunlight, It’s arms were reached out, its head was turned. A light brown colour, with deep chocolate eyes. I quickly walked towards the bear, I carefully picked him up. He had half a smile; it seemed to stop half way, almost like it had been cut. It was old and tatty but… Something drew me in. Maybe the way it looked so lonely? Or maybe the way it stood out along the other objects. Or maybe, it was the fact, I could hear him saying my name.