Hell's Angel

Chapter Four

Nyx's PoV

I woke up the next morning, with the sheets tangled around me as usual, sat up, stretched, and loudly yawned. Sunlight was softly pouring in from behind the curtains and the birds were busy making their presence known from their loud chirping. The house itself was quiet and I sighed in content before falling back into bed. It was Friday, which for me meant a day of no classes and no Liara. I smiled to myself at that last thought; it was going to be a good day, I could feel it.

Grabbing my phone by my bedside table, I quickly checked the time: 12:04 p.m. Perfect, not too early. I checked through my phone to see if anything was going on but, it was all the usual stuff. A few texts from Liara reminding me to go grocery shopping and clean the house, a class reminder of my Advanced Chemistry lab being switched from Monday to Thursday next week, and a text from my coworker asking if I could pick up tonight's shift at the local bar, Devil's Angel. I sighed before replying; I guess today won't be as good and quiet as I hoped.

After putting on some Breaking Benjamin to start my afternoon, I put my phone back onto the nightstand. Tiredly, I untangled my legs from the sheets and slowly moved out of bed, shuffling towards the bathroom for a quick shower. Humming along to my music, I turned on the water to warm up while I went back to my bureau for clothes. I grabbed a dark green tank top and a pair of black jeans and headed back to the bathroom.

I put the clothes on the sink and headed on in, jumping back from the immediate cold water that jetted from the shower head once I switched from tub faucet to shower head. After a few seconds, it warmed up to the hottest temperature that I could stand and I stepped back into the stream, sighing contentedly as the warm water poured down my body. I grabbed my shampoo, still humming away to the music and washed my hair, the soapy water gathering at my feet before swirling down the drain. I repeated the process with the conditioner and body wash until I was all done and was just standing there, thinking.

A trip to the grocery store shouldn't take too long as it was just Liara and I living in the house. However, I'm not going to lie, that girl may seem like your typical beach blonde bimbo who eats like a bird but, in reality, she eats just like a horse would. Or a brother, or a black hole, if you wish to compare. She is one of the tiniest people I have ever met, yet she can sit there and eat two whole hamburgers, a side of large fries and drink, and a large sundae and still have room for seconds. Watching her eat is somewhat difficult as you are always left wondering where all of that food goes. Seriously, she's model thin yet she gains nothing. I wish I had that kind of metabolism...

While thinking what foods I could buy that Liara didn't like so I could have something to eat for once, the water ran cold. I sighed and switched off the faucets; there goes my only peace for the day. I grabbed the towel that I had left out by the sink and began drying off, already thinking of what horrors would be at the store. It was while I was deep in thought that I heard a soft chuckle in my room.

I immediately froze, the towel halfway wrapped around my hair and I strained my ears to listen for any noises in my room. Silence greeted me instead, my music being the only thing making any noise, so I slowly took the towel out of my hair and wrapped it around my body. Quietly edging my way to the bathroom door, I looked around the bathroom for any kind of weapon. The only thing that came close was the hair straightener on the bathroom shelf, so I grabbed that and stood by the door. I stood for a few seconds, trying to quiet my breathing and still my pounding heart. I put my hand on the doorknob, holding the straightener above my head in a striking position, and counted to three. One...two...three!

I ripped the door open and launched myself into my room with a battle cry, swinging the straightener in a downward motion and around me, the towel barely managing to hang onto me. But, the only person in my room was me; there was no one else there. Startled, I turned around quickly, my eyes scanning every inch of my room. But, I found nothing out of the ordinary; everything was exactly as I had left it before entering the bathroom.

Frowning, I straightened myself up and lowered my makeshift weapon, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I tried to make sense of what just happened. I know for certain I heard a chuckle come from my room but, there's no one else here. I blinked a few times, more confused now than ever, and walked towards my bedroom door. Cracking it open, I listened for any sounds that could be heard downstairs. But, once again, I was met with silence, so I shut the door.

What in the world was that? I slowly walked back through my room to the bathroom but not before shutting off my music from my phone. I quickly towel-dried my hair before getting dressed and threw it up into a bun all while puzzling over what had just occurred. I brushed my teeth, listening for any other sounds but, the house remained as quiet as it did when I had first awakened. Cleaning up the wet floor and hanging the towel over the tub edge, I walked into my room to put on socks and my boots.

Grabbing my phone and wallet that I left on the bedside table, I walked over to my window to pull back the curtains and look outside. I had almost forgotten about the storm during the night and the forest showed some signs of its' presence. A few branches lay scattered around the areas of the house that I could see from my window, a few of Liara's plants lay ruined, the plants spilling out from their place in the ground, and the woodland animals were out and about, trying to pick up whatever materials they could find to fix up their destroyed homes. I sighed, knowing that even in all of this destruction (even minor), there would be some beauty coming from it. And, as much as I wanted to say that I despised the chaos and brutal destruction, I know that a small part of me enjoys it.

I left the window, the curtains pulled back enough to allow a visual outside, and walked to my bed. Pulling out a notepad I kept inside the drawer of table, I quickly made a list of what items I needed to pick up at the grocery store. Trying to pick up enough to feed Liaras's appetite, my own, and keep it all under a budget is a definite challenge but, we manage somehow. Ripping the paper from the notebook, I shoved it into my front pocket, and walked to my bedroom door, wallet in hand and phone in back pocket.

As I opened the door, a thought came to me and I immediately stopped dead in my tracks. I stood there, frozen, as my wallet dropped to the floor as I began to process this thought. "No way, it couldn't be", I whispered to myself, as I began to shake and my back began to ache again. The more I thought about it, the more I was shaken up by it. Picking my wallet off the floor, I shakily walked out of my room, down the stairs, and out the house, my back still aching as I walked through the still lively forest, all while looking around for ghosts that shouldn't exist.

That chuckle that I thought I heard, it sounded exactly like the voice from the man in my dream. The same rough but silky voice just now reduced to a chuckle. It was the one in the same but, that wasn't possible; he was just a dream, he wasn't real. Yet, there that voice was, in the flesh and I sure as hell wasn't dreaming just now. "He doesn't exist, it's impossible", I whispered to myself. But, even as I whispered that over and over again, a small part of me believed otherwise. He's real...and he's here for you...