DREAMS : WORLD OF ANGELS

Chapter 6 A suitable guide

I sat in the classroom, listening intently to the teacher's lecture. It was introduction to Haven, the school for Boatman. Sitting beside me was Damien. He had arrived late, and made a straight beeline to sit beside me. I smiled inwardly.

"And this school was established at the beginning of time by his holiness, Our Lord. We, angels, or boatmen, are in charge of setting souls trapped on earth free. New angels are souls whom died in unusual circumstances. We do not understand who becomes angels but we have some theories. Angels are usually discovered by guides. What are guides you ask? These are what humans call deities. They are not angels, rather immortal beings whom serve our Lord."

"Where does Damien come in?" a student asked. The other students laughed and one of Damien's devil looking buddies threw a pencil hard at that student's head. The student rubbed their head, looking annoyed.

The teacher looked uncomfortable. "Well, that isn't for me to discuss with the class."

Damien laughed loudly. "Go on, tell them, it's obvious I'm not the same as them."

The teacher debated. "Well, Damien is the son of the ....Devil. So yes, he is not an angel," the teacher said.

I turned to look at Damien. The son of the devil? Did that make him evil?

"And the other students around him are his servants, although they would do well to hand in their homework," the teacher pretended to scold them.

The students the teacher was referring to was the five devils around Damien. They looked handsome, although they did not look very different from one another. They all had similar styles, almost mimicking Damien's with the sleeked hair. However, they didn't wear a suit, just mostly black clothes. Their wings were much smaller than Damien's. However, they were leather and black just like a bat's. They were always cracking jokes and monkeying around. All the noise seemed to amuse Damien and highly irritate the angel students. They mostly left me alone. They formed a small ring around Damien and I.

"Well, now that we addressed this, let's continue with how Haven works. During the morning, you will have class in my classroom, then in the afternoons, you will go with your guides to learn the ropes on how to set souls free," the teacher continued.

The bell rang and all the students got up and packed their things. As everyone rushed out the door, Mrs. Bell, the teacher, stopped me.

"Nina, is it? Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure, no problem," I smiled.

"I was told by Mr. Ox you don't have a guide," Mrs. Bell started, almost uncomfortable. Then I realized it was because Damien was standing behind me, towering over the two of us.

"She doesn't need a good for nothing guide," Damien purred, putting a clawed hand on my shoulder. "I know it's a lot of trouble but I'll consider taking her under my wing, so to speak, and teach her the ropes. I mean, I don't mean to brag, but I do have quite a bit of experience in my long time in the afterlife..." He flashed a brilliant smile at Mrs. Bell. Mrs. Bell started to wring her hands.

"Mr. Ox said that he would find a suitable guide. I-I hope, however, for the time being, there's no harm in you watching over her..." Mrs. Bell said, losing her resolve.

"Wonderful!" Damien said. "You won't regret it, Mrs. Bell," Damien said, although somehow I felt his voice sounded a bit hollow on that last part.

Before I knew it, Damien was steering me away from the teacher and toward the door. At the door, his servants were waiting but they quickly left when they saw Damien walking with me.

"Why do they always rush off?" I asked.

"I don't want them around when I'm with you," He said.

"Why?"

"I don't want them telling my father," he said straightforwardly.

Why, I wondered. Was he ashamed of me? I didn't want to ask. I felt that affairs with his father were of no concern to me.