Specials

Chapter 17- Angel

Two more times while they were walking, the figure appeared again. Each time it was in the exact same position, appearing only for a few seconds, then disappearing without a trace. The first time, it stayed a little longer than the time with the berries, and the second time, it stayed a bit longer than the last. Each time, it looked directly at Jaina.

It didn't leave a shadow.

It didn't say anything.

It didn't move, it was always the same distance away from them.

Then why was it so unsettling?

"What if I touched it?" Dawn asked, suddenly, after the third appearance of the mysterious figure.

"Don't!" James cried, eyes wide in panic.

"Stop acting like my mother!" Dawn spat back.

"Oooh, buuurn!" Sarah snapped her fingers, earning her a glare from James.

But sure enough, the next time the figure appeared, Dawn stretched out her fingers to meet the outstretched hand of the figure.

And the strangest thing happened. The figure's electric blue grid faded to tanned skin, to reveal a person wearing the skintight suit for the simulation, with short, spiked black hair that faded into inky blue, and black lips. The electronic ringing faded and ended into, "HELP ME!" The person looked around, looked down at their body, then, "Oh, thanks!"

"Who are you?" Dawn asked.

"Call me Angel. Would you be a doll and tell me what year it is?" The person, now known as Angel, asked.

"Uh, 2015," Dawn replied.

"Holy-" Angel swore. "I've been trapped... For 10 years?!" A look of pure panic crossed over Angel's face.

"Trapped?" Chameleon prompted.

"There was a system glitch when I was being killed in the simulation, I've been stuck here ever since!" Angel started pacing furiously, then grabbed Chameleon's shoulders, "TELL ME! IS 'MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE' STILL TOGETHER?!"

"I have bad news for you, Angel," Chameleon replied with a sad head shake. Angel swore some more.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" James asked.

"Oh my GOD, James, you can't just ask people that! You haven't even said 'hello'!" Dawn growled at James.

"Chill, I get that all the time. In response, no. Just no," Angel said, resting a hand on Dawn's shoulder. Jaina noticed that Angel's hands were big, and spider-like, with thin, tapering fingers. The hands that a piano player or an artist would have. How much could those hands have achieved in the time they were trapped within a simulation, neither alive nor dead?

"No isn't an answer? That was a choice?" James' face was twisted in confusion.

"Are you guys going to introduce yourselves or should I just make nicknames for all of you?" Angel sighed.

"Oh, yeah! I'm Dawn, flame-head there is James, grumpy vampire is Sarah, ghost-girl is Kia, pink person there is Chameleon, and Jaina is the one staring at your hands," Dawn introduced. Jaina blushed furiously and looked at Angel's face instead. Angel had dark eyes, like Jaina's, iris blending into pupil to make one big disc. Angel caught Jaina staring (again) and winked. Jaina blushed (again) and decided to just look at the ground instead.

"Do you want to join the team?" Chameleon proposed.

"You can't just let some random girl join the team!" James protested. Dawn and Angel both shot him a death glare.

"I think Angel should join the team," Sarah volunteered.

"Whoa! This is serious! Sarah never compliments anyone!" Kia gasped.

"I compliment you all the time," Sarah smiled at Kia, wrapping her arms around the ghostly girl.

"Can I watch?" James smirked. Sarah's arms instantly dropped.

"JAMES! Stop being such a dick!" Dawn yelled at him. James shrugged, but didn't apologize. "That's it. I formally, hereby break up with you."

"What! Dawn! You can't!" James cried, flabbergasted. "After all I've done for you!" James' anger lit a fire in his eyes, an anger and hardness in his eyes that genuinely scared Dawn. Instantly, all the other teammates jumped in front of Dawn protectively, ready to fight. James had this, this look in his eyes that had only been glimpsed once or twice before. Dawn's eyes were wide in horror, a sort of betrayal and fear reflected there.

"She doesn't owe you anything," Sarah snarled, fangs out.

"James, get off this team," Chameleon blazed a furious red.

"You can't just kick me off!" James protested.

"Hell yes we can," Sarah and Chameleon growled at the same time.

"All in favor of voting James off the team, say 'aye'!" Kia piped up.

"AYE," Dawn, Chameleon, Kia, Sarah, Jaina, and Angel all cried in unison. James' image flickered once, twice, then he disappeared completely.

"H-he was so nice! And funny! Then he started making mean jokes, and all the sudden he was horrible, but just around me! It was like he was a different person!" Dawn started sobbing into Chameleon's shoulder.

"Sometimes, people aren't always who we think they are," Angel soothed. There was wisdom and pain in Angel's eyes that made Jaina know there was a story there.