The Unheavenly Angel

Ch 7: A Beggar in Desperation

"Interesting to see you here, Isaiah. I didn't think you'd make it today." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." Isaiah placed a hand over his chest. "I had some intense chest pains yesterday, and I almost thought I wouldn't make it to class today. But I managed to recover."

Ryan looked between the two of us with an air of interest, but didn't interrupt.

"I need to talk to you, Leah. It is important," Isaiah said, leaning in. His dark blue eyes were filled urgency. Too bad I didn't share his worries.

"Not going to happen, Messenger." I shoved him away from me and grabbed Ryan's arm, tugging him down the hall with me.

Once we were out of earshot, Ryan asked, "Is there something going on between the two of you that I should be aware of?" I gave him a look of disgust, and he grinned like he was on to some dirty secret.

"No!" I snapped. How Ryan could even consider something like that was sickening. Not to mention the fact that Isaiah would never like someone like me in a romantic way. And even if he did, I wouldn't fall for someone as big-headed as him. There was nothing else going on between us besides the issue with the angel. Nothing.

Luckily, Ryan dropped the subject and we went to first period. The day was torture. I spent my classes with Isaiah trying to ignore his attempts to get my attention. Between periods, I tried to put as much space between the two of us as possible.

Ryan eventually figured out that Isaiah's harassing wasn't welcome, and he helped me by scoping out the area before I walked into or out of different rooms. When lunch came, I considered skipping and hiding out in the girls' restroom. But Ryan said it was unlikely Isaiah would bother us because he thought so highly of his social status and would want to sit with Mary and her entourage.

I was stupid enough to believe him.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you and your boyfriend's lunch, but I was wondering if I could sit with you?" Isaiah stood expectantly by our table with a tray in hand.

"She's not my girlfriend," Ryan said. I shot him a glare. He couldn't pretend just this once? Ryan shrugged as if to say, 'It wouldn't have mattered anyway.'

"Oh." Isaiah sounded surprised, but, he took Ryan's statement as an acceptance to sit down.

Isaiah picked up a bag of chips on his tray. "I think the lunch lady ripped me off, these can't be worth three dollars."

As he ate one of the chips, I could hear the people behind me beginning to whisper. I was able to make out our names, disgusted snorts, and snickering. I stood up with my hands balled into fists at my sides. "I'm going to the restroom."

Isaiah began to stand up. "I'll come with you."

"You're not following me into the girls' restroom, idiot, just in the cafeteria." I walked away in a huff, but Isaiah followed me.

Once we were out in the hallway and away from everyone, I whipped around on him. "Are you incapable of listening, or do you just not care about what anyone else wants?"

"We need to talk." Isaiah crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"We don't need to talk about anything. I don't want or need help, especially not from someone who escaped Hell."

"I didn't escape Hell. I served my time and was let out. Think of Hell like angel jail, and currently I'm on angel parole." Isaiah sighed as he ran his hand through his dark hair. "Now I need to perform some act of charity to show I'm worthy of returning to Heaven. Until then, I'm stuck here."

"And I'm your 'act of charity'?" I snapped.

"I don't have time to go saving every mortal that gets themselves into trouble. Working to save you will help both of us. I'll get back into Heaven, and you don't die. Seems fair, don't you think?"

"I knew you had some ulterior motive for saving me." I shook my head in disappointment.

"In my defense, I did not think about that when I first saved you from the angel. I only wanted to prevent your otherwise inevitable death."

"Like I would believe that." I rolled my eyes.

Isaiah furrowed his brow, mulling over what I had said. I could see a change in his expression. The cocky grin that was usually plastered on his face faded to the hardened mask that had appeared on his face last night, when I accused him of killing humans.

He then quickly shook his head and continued in a stiffer, business-like tone, "You do not have enough knowledge about angels to defend yourself against your attacker."

As I said before, this angel is not acting on Heaven's orders. We're not supposed to go around killing mortals; it would be extremely counterproductive. He's dangerous, and you'll need help if you want to survive.  Your cooperation in the matter will make everything significantly simpler."

"I'm sorry that I don't want to play damsel in distress and let you do everything," I said angrily. "And besides, if I don't have the 'knowledge about angels' that you say I do, then why should I believe everything you say? You could be feeding me lies to to lead me into whatever trap you're setting up here."

"I..." Isaiah paused, struggling to find an answer.

"How about this," I said. "Why don't you tell me everything you know about angels, fallen angels, Heaven, and Hell, and I'll decide whether or not to trust you." I figured it was a fair proposition. Being as he were angel, he should have access to this sort of information.

I'd always wanted to know more about the afterlife and paranormal creatures, and this seemed like an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Perhaps if he gave me this information, I would be able to make a fair judgement on him. Not that I hadn't already begun to think he was a lying sack of crap.

Isaiah's shook his head. "I can't tell you those sorts of things."

"What?" I cried in exasperation. "Why not?"

"Angels cannot go around telling those sorts of things to mortals, it is against our laws."

"Obviously you've already broken the law before if you're here. What's preventing you from doing it again?"

"The last thing I need is to get sent back to Hell again!" Isaiah snarled.

"Then I hope you enjoy spending more time as a fallen angel." I turned on my heels and started walking back to the cafeteria.

There were ways I could fight against the angel, I just needed to find them. And I certainly wasn't going to accept help from someone with an unbearable personality like Isaiah, regardless of his handsome face and six pack. The angel attack had caught me off-guard last night, but I should be able to fight the angel off again later. "I'll figure out a way myself."

Isaiah called after me in a emotionless voice, "You'll die trying."

I continued walking. "Sounds better than working with you."

Thanks for reading! Please vote and comment if you liked the chapter! Unfortunately, I will start publishing chapters only on Friday from now on to prepare for the start of school. Once everything settles down, I may start posting twice a week again :)