The Unshadowed | Book 1 |

Chapter 6 ~ The Biker Woman

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Warning: this chapter has a suicide scene in a flashback.

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~ Sinyaki, Russia ~

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Ariel, Orion, Luciu, and Amanda had already decided to stay together. None of them wanted to go back to where they came from, so they pooled all their resources and shared a four bedroom apartment in Sinyaki. Sinyaki was about two hours from Tochka where Civic lived. It was much cheaper to live in Sinyaki as Tochka was a more expensive and bigger city, similar to Moscow but more like New York in terms of city life. It was often nicknamed 'the New York City of Russia.'

Plus, we would be living close to Civic, Ariel thought, excited about the move. She was thrilled to know someone with telekinetic abilities and started to regard Civic like he was a model or celebrity. Ironically, Civic was a model.

Both sister and brother shared the exact same taste in music, food, entertainment, lifestyle, and even some aspects of clothing. The huge difference besides their hair color was their personalities. Ariel was bubbly and talkative, and Orion was quiet and solitary.

Amanda's hidden chatty side came out when she met Ariel. She started to become much happier, her face livening up from being around such a positive, upbeat person. Ariel's fun, playful attitude helped Amanda overcome some of the negative, sullen attitude that had become of her as a result of constantly having to prove she was better than others. Now, surrounded by irangels who cared and treated her like an equal, Amanda no longer felt the need to prove herself, feeling completely at home with the people who liked her and became her friends.

Luciu wasn't as quiet and solitary as Orion, but he did tend to stay quiet most of the time. He was very modest in both personality and way of living. Born and raised in Moldova, Luciu was an orphan who, prior to becoming an irangel, was trying to make ends meet. He was working two jobs and struggling with rent. Life was very tiring and exhausting for him, and he felt like he wasn't getting anywhere in life.

One night Luciu was walking home from work, feeling worthless. He had sat down at a bridge and was staring at the water for hours, to the point where if someone had pushed him off the bridge, he wouldn't have cared less. He felt dead to the world, felt dead inside, with no hope of ever feeling alive again.

Then he saw a man's figure stand behind him, his reflection dark in the water. His face was hidden, his hoodie pulled low over his face to completely obscure it. He was wearing a peppermint scented black leather jacket and jeans, and he held an Axe spray.

Luciu had thought he was a mugger and just shrugged, not even caring whether he harassed him. The figure crouched down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying in a low voice, "I'll change your life to make it better. I will take you to the forest where you will become an irangel. You will never have to struggle again. Your life will have meaning."

"Sounds like a faraway fantasy or something out of a fairytale," Luciu murmured. "I can't afford to dare hope like that when it'll just get taken away. Sorry, I don't believe in hope or dreams of any kind. I don't care. Do me a favor and just push me into the water. Let me drown."

The figure had paused for a moment, silently looking at Luciu, then he said, "Favor refused. Instead, I will give you hope and dreams that will never die."

Luciu turned around, annoyed at the figure. He caught only a glimpse of the lower part of the man's face before the figure lifted the Axe spray and pressed down on top. Luciu closed his eyes as he started coughing, wondering why this stranger sprayed fragrance at him at such close proximity, then he passed out.