Angels Redemption

Chapter five: why me?

(Iris's pov)
Staring at my calendar I tick off that another day has past. Ten years. My mind sighs. What am I going to do? Turning away I stalk back to my bed and sit down. I feel so restless that my brain doesn't even know what to do. It has literally only been 4months since Rafael had to leave this planet, and I'm feeling too anxious. Jumping up, I decide to go for a run. I grab a tank top, some sweats and a good sweater, throw them all on and then head downstairs. Grabbing my sneakers, headphones, and iPod, I yell "Heading out for a run! Be back soon!" Then I open the door and head out into the warm afternoon.
***
(3 hours later)
It has been three hours since I left the house to go for my run. I feel better, reenergized. But there's still something in me that's screaming you're missing something!! I don't know what it is but the thought of ten years without Rafael makes me sick and I don't know if I want to go that long. I'm afraid that if I see him again after so long that we may have changed, that us will be different. That everything we've fought for will be for nothing. Maybe I'm paranoid or too insecure but I know that everything will change. And soon.
"Well hello again Iris. Fancy seeing you here!"
I stop mid jog and turn around slowly. My hair bristles at her voice. "Saraphina" I say with no emotion what so ever. "Now, now that's no way to treat a friend" she says with a sneer. I sigh and sit on a bench that's beside me. Saraphina joins me a moment later. I stiffen but then decide to relax and ignore whatever feeling she makes me feel whenever I'm near her. "What do you want?" She huffs and says "now is that any way to treat a friend, a guardian?" I burst into laughter "you my guardian? My friend? Sorry but no" she frowns and says "why are you so sour towards me?"

I sigh and say "sorry. But home life is rough. And I don't see Rafael anymore so that's hard. And you happen to be crushing on MY boyfriend. So of course I'll be sour and mad with you. Why do you hate me?" Saraphina, thinking hard, says "well I don't hate you, but I am jealous of you. You're beautiful, you have a family who loves and cares for you even if it's hard at times. You have a dangerously, gorgeous, handsome boyfriend, who adores you and would literally do anything for you. What's not to be jealous about?" I look at her in shock. Then I swallow and say softly, "well I don't know why you'd be jealous of me. I'm plain, boring, not very fun to be with, I'm decent in looks. I mean look at you! You're gorgeous, it's like God's hands made you specifically to make us humans feel shame about beauty. You make me look like something somebody drag in from outside. My family is a mess and we fight a lot. Mom used to get drunk all the time, her boyfriends would abuse her, my brother and I. My best friends ex was a psycho path and my boyfriend is trapped in hell for ten years!!" Taking a deep breath I wait for her reply. Saraphina shakes her head but says nothing. When she has been silent for so long, I turn to her only to see she's disappeared. Well how convenient of her. Rude. My brain huffs. Getting up I continue my way back home, my breathing increasing and my heart rate jumps a few miles when I realize something. Saraphina, is in love with Rafael. Tears start to pool in my eyes because I know what's going to happen next. If-when- he comes back he'll take one look at me and then he'll see Saraphina, and I can only hope he'd choose me. I'm the one who has always been there for him, I'm the one who has been there when he couldn't talk about anything. Me, me, me.

Oh please Rafael, don't fall in love with Saraphina. Please don't break my heart. Please...

(Rafael's pov)
I hear her thoughts from here. I hear her thoughts going haywire, going berserk, crazy. Then I stumble back when I pull myself out of the vision I was in. I breath deeply, sit down on the wooden floor, and stare at nothing. How could she think I'd fall in love with Saraphina? How could she think I'd want anyone else but her? Why is she thinking this? What's happening to her? My mind is a jumble of questions but the one that hurts the most is that she'd really think I'd trade her in for Saraphina. No, I don't love Saraphina. I don't even like her. Shaking my head I decide to stand and go for a walk to clear my head. I walk to the back door, and head outside, listening to the birds sing, and the smell of a garden growing. Yes I have a garden and birds. It's part of the magic that was put on this place many millennia's ago. I hear the soft sounds of Rocco's feet padding on the dirt ground, and I let the dog come and sniff my hand before staying by my side. He's huge. His head reaches my shoulder, and his obsidian, melted coal, coloured eyes meet mine. He gives a happy bark, and a wag of his tail before he rushes off into the garden. I laugh, where is he going? Following him into the dense grass of the garden, I call out when I don't see him. "Rocco! Where are you boy? Come here, we should head back inside. Rocco?" There's no reply. Ok what? "ROCCO!!!!" I call out as loudly as I came. I'm about to go rushing into the dense garden that turns into a forest-again part of the magic-when I hear a large snapping sound and then a yelp of pain. Rocco comes rushing out of the forest like a bat out of hell. I brace myself and catch him as he rushes by. He looks at me in pure terror, and nuzzles my neck when I pat his head, "ssh, you're ok. It's ok. I've got you now." His breathing slows and slowly the panic look fades from his eyes.

As I stand up to leave I watch the trees rustle, and the birds have gone silent. Something dark is lurking in the forest. But what? Rocco heads into the mansion we call a house, and slowly I turn around. Then just as I'm about to enter the house I hear it. I hear her. Her scream of horror and agony rips through the silence of the forest and I whip around as it resonates through my skull. Her scream comes again and then it's silenced. Heart hammering in my chest I can't process what I just heard. But all I can think is God don't let her be hurt, don't let her be dead. Not to me. Not now. Why me?

Then her scream splits the air again and I scream
"IRIS!!!!"