Winged Love

Chapter 1

With her back to her enormous bed, and her knees crossed beneath her, a tear fell involuntarily on the photograph she was holding of the two of them. Another wave of unbearable pain and emptiness crashed through her. Seeing James hold her in his arms so tightly was too much for her. Knowing that she was never to feel his embrace again. Clare closed her green eyes, but the image of her beloved was imprinted behind her eyelids. His dark hair and tanned skin complimented his brown eyes wonderfully. Another ache seared through her body as she remember the last time she saw those gorgeous brown eyes; the way they looked at her; filled with fear, then acceptance and finally nothingness. He just stared past her as the terrible reality sank in. She knew he was dead.

More tears rolled down her cheeks as the memory of that night came to her as vividly as if it was happening right now. She wondered how long she would relive that night in her nightmares as well as her daydreams. She wondered if she would ever stop reliving it. How could someone forget such a horrific night?

++++

Her battle gear clinged to her fit body tightly, yet she could still move as quickly and easily as if she wasn't wearing anything at all. The industructibility of her gear gave her the confidence she needed for this mission. They tracked the demons to an alley and as she crouched down behind a big dumbster, the hairs on her neck rose. They stood on end as if to warn her of the evil that was coming her way. This was a clear sign that the demons they were hunting were close by.

"Should we wait for the rest of the team?" She whispered, looking up at their team leader and feancé, James. He was about to nod his head, yes, when two young men's voices rang down the alley, "Come on, Mark, let's take a short cut through here. We're already late." The one man was rather tall with black hair and green eyes. The other man was a little shorter. They were both dressed casually and talked excitedly about their plans for the night, apparently some party that would be the highlight of the year.

At the exact same moment the demon's cries rang through Clare's ears. The terrible screeching noise they make, sent sivers through her body. It reminded her of the sound chalk makes against a black board, except this was much worse. The demons were in the alley. They were going to attack these men. As this became clear to the both if them, James answered, "No time."

He took his huge and powerful sword out of its gorgeous, gold and silver sheath and reminded her of their sacred oath. The one they took the day they became guardians, "We protect the innocent."

He said the words with such confidence. He gave meaning to the small words, making her realize again just how important her job is. Without her, her team and others just like them, demons would roam free, devouring human souls whenever and wherever they like.

The men were walking right toward the demons, having no idea they were there. The demons were hiding in the shadows as the ugly creatures do so well. The men were chatting cheerfully, completely unaware of the horrible fate that awaits them, should the demons get to them before James and Clare could get to the demons.

Clare opened her big, cream coloured wings and flew to the top of the building, taking her sword out as well, hoping to catch the demon by surprise. She enjoyed the familiar rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins. She readied herself and leaped onto the demon. Wind caressed her face as she came crashing down, her wings closed. At the last moment she opened her wings, ensuring a secure landing. Her sword cut through his ghastly head easily and the demon erupted into a cloud of black and dark grey smoke. His corrupted soul returned to the underworld, where it would stay forever.

She looked up to see James struggling with the other demon a little more that she did. James obviously tried to creep up on the demon from behind, but it must have heard him. The fight was epic. The brute strentgh and wit of a gaurdian angel against the slyness, speed and force of a demon. The demon, armed with it's deadly claws and sharp teeth, was furiously attacking James; swinging it's dirty paws at him. Hoping to cut him open or get a fatal blow in. James blocked every attack skillfully with his sword and ducked every bite the demon tried to get in. Just as Clare opened her wings to go help her lover, she saw James's sword cut through the demon's body like butter and it erupted in the awful smoke too.

He smiled at her, but it quickly faded as he noticed the two men staring at them. They were shaking with fear. Confusion and terror clear on their faces. It is to be expected. These men have probably never seen a demon before, and even less likely to have seen angels before. To add to their terror they just witnessed a brutal fight. They must obviously not understand what just happened or what the truth is behind the scene they just saw.

"It's okay." James said in the gentle voice Clare loved so much as he tried to put his sword away, to show these men that he meant them no harm, "we just..."

"Stay back!" The taller one of the two yelled as he pulled out a gun. "D..Don't come closer or ... or ... I'll s..shoot."

His entire body was shaking with fear. Clare knew that this man had no real experience with a gun and probably couldn't shoot straight with him shaking so much. She also knew that they were very close to James. Even though this man was shaking, he was close enough to get a fatal shot in, even accidentally. James moved even closer, trying to calm the man down. Clare stood frozen with fear, incapable of coming up with anything she could do to help.

James stood in front of the man. He was so close now that Clare knew if the man did decide to pull the trigger, James' gear would not be able to be of much use. He held his hands up, "We don't want to hurt you."

"Bullshit! You k..killed that old man in cold blood."
The man was shaking even more and Clare could not tell if it was for fear of his own life, or anger at the 'innocent' being killed.
"W...what are you?"

Unfortunately, demons have a talent that guardian angels will never have. They can choose any form to hide their true self from humans. Humans see these demons as what the demon choose them to see until it is too late. Only other demons and and angels can see them for what they truly are. The demon must have shown himself to these men as an old man. One of their many strategies to lure innocent people into their traps. A strategy angels see right through. This changs the way these men think about what happened. In their eyes James and Clare are the monsters attacking the innocent, not the other way around.

Clare's body went ice cold when James took a step closer to the man, his hands still up. It was as if she saw it happen in slow motion. The man pulled the trigger. She could see by the way he was aiming the gun at James's chest, there was no way he could miss. Not with them being so close to each other. Clare ran forward to try to tell this man that they were guardian angels, that they just saved them and stopped their souls from being eaten by those monsters.

It was too late. The gunshot rang through her ears. The reality of what it meant made it sound like a cannon to her. The man dropped the gun. He ran. His friend followed close by. Clare kneeled next to James. There was blood everywhere. Hot, sticky blood. The blood of her James. Clare wants to be sick, but the overwhelming feeling of doing something to help James held her attention away from the vomit that was pushing up her body. She could tell from the bullet hole in his chest that nothing could save him now. The gear he was wearing had a messy hole in it, blood poring out of it. As if James's body is just as shocked as Clare is.

She heaved him on to her lap, shakily. Clare tried frantically to clean his face up and to put pressure on his chest. She was panicking. She knew he was going to die. Any second now, he would be gone. Forever. Clare felt her body refuse to breathe, as if she herself was shot. Soundless tears poured down her face as her mind struggled to come to terms with what just happened.

"James!" She yelled. She knew it would do nothing, change nothing. She will have to tell him the last words she will ever say to him.

"I love you." She said. Tears rolling down her face. "I love you... I love you ..." She continued frantically as she saw the light and life leave his eyes. She tried to keep him as close to her as possible. "I love you... I love you..." she continued while rocking their bodies.
"I love you... I love..."