The face of an Angel

Chapter 5

The Guardian was stood in a dark room, the only light was a dim green glow coming from, what were they? Jars? Test tubes? Whatever they were there was two of them. Each contained a feather. One feather was white with scattered brown dots, the other, much longer, as black as the night sky. The liquid they were surrounded in was a sort of gel substance that was sticky to the touch. The Guardian picked the two jars up and crossed the room to a sealed vault. He put his eye to the scanner and the vault door swung open, bright light cascading into the room.

In the vault were two humongous machines. They stood about ten foot tall, cylindrical in shape. The first 3 foot was made of solid metal, that had various buttons and levers scattered around, the next 7 foot was made of glass - 5 inches thick. They both had a slot in the front of the metal bit - where the jar went - and above that the glass looked as though it was big enough for a humanoid shape to fit into.

"Stupid geese, that's all they are. I'll teach them to try and evade me. They think they can fool me into thinking they've never met? Just shows how stupid they really are.." the Guardian was muttering insults under his breath whilst fixing the jars into the machine. Once they were in he pulled a giant, metallic lever and the feathers started spinning rapidly in their jars. In the glass part of the machine, what looked like gold liquid was swirling around, like a tornado. After about ten minutes, a shape was slumped in the bottom of each cylinder. A naked boy with black wings. A naked girl with white and brown wings.

•

I'd slept so deeply last night that the alarm clock barely woke me up in the morning. I had a Storting headache and a feeling of dread, deep inside my stomach. The dream I'd had last night was still fresh in my mind, never had I had such a vivid dream. I was flying through a clear sky, on cloud nine, happy as could be, when I looked down and spotted the Guardian, he had Harley tied up and was showing him to me and laughing. He kept repeating, " I have him, come find him." over and over again. Well, I'd find out if he had him soon enough, because Harley was supposed go be coming over this morning.

I hopped into the shower, letting the cool water ease the tension between my temples and loosen the muscles in my wings. I was kind of glad that the Guardian had stopped coming, it meant I could do what I want when I wanted. When I got out the shower, I was drying my hair with a towel, scurrying through draws searching for my uniform. Then I heard a bang as something hard hit the balcony door.

I pulled my uniform on quickly, and slid the balcony door open. On the floor was a stone that had been thrown, purposely, to hit my window. I looked over the balcony railing, and after deciding - with raptor precision eyesight - that the person that threw it was long gone, I made my way back inside my apartment. Just as I reached the door, something brushed past my head. I twirled around, fists up, ready for action. I looked around - no one was there. But where there was nothing before, now a paper aeroplane was on the balcony floor. I unraveled it, expecting it to be off of Harley.

The note said,

AOIFE,

I HAVE THE BOY. DO NOT BE ALARMED. I ASSURE YOU HE'S NOT HURT. HE WILL REMAIN SAFE UNTIL MIDNIGHT. IF YOU FAIL TO SHOW UP, HE WILL DIE. IF YOU DO SHOW UP, I WILL NOT HARM HIM. SIMPLE, RIGHT?

I THINK YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS FROM.

That bastard. Of course I knew who it was from. The scrawny writing was none other than the Guardian's. I'll kill him. Before my hair or feathers were even dry I took off into the air, shutting the door by kicking hard with my left foot.

I knew where he was, he was at the Ministry of Mutants.

•

I'd slept in a tree last night. Where else could I sleep? I was hardly going to invite myself to Aoife's. Though to share a bed with her wouldn't have been a bad idea. I chuckled to myself. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world right now. Me, Harley Wood, and her, Aoife Harvard. It was perfect.

I was awoken at around 6am by something pelting me in the face. I leaped down from the tree like lightening. But after circling around, my fists out incase someone tried anything with me, for a few minutes no one was in sight. Then out of nowhere a paper aeroplane landed in my dark brown hair.

I unfurled it and it read,

HARLEY,

IF YOU EVER WISH TO SEE AOIFE AGAIN, I SUGGEST YOU HAND YOURSELF IN TO THE MINISTRY OF MUTANTS. IF YOU FAIL IN DOING SO, SHE WILL DIE, AND YOU WILL WATCH. YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT. DO NOT BE LATE.

YOU KNOW WHO IT IS.

I teared the note up into tiny little pieces and threw them to the floor. I was so fucking angry. I punched the trunk of the tree, only resulting in my knuckles bleeding. I swear steam was coming from my ears. I was going to kill him. Even if it's the last thing I do.

•

The Guardian had stayed a little longer than originally planned just to watch their reactions to their letters. He had them wrapped around his little finger. The game had begun.