Hell's Angel

Chapter 6: Even if it Kills Me

SALEM

Pieces of ash float around the dark sky and a few land in her hair. My eyes take in my surroundings and I notice how she's hovering over me, calling out to me, saying my name. My ears continue to ring until finally the ringing slowly goes away and I can hear her as she's yelling for me and shaking me. Her emerald eyes search mine and slight relief fills them when she realizes that I'm okay.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Come on, we have to go!" She shouts and grabs my hand.

She pulls me up and leads me through the ash covered woods and closer to the burning city. I glance upwards and notice how the sky looks like it's stained with the color of blood, smoke blacks, and shades of oranges. A flash goes off and the oranges turn into yellows for a few seconds while a loud rumble follows until the flash dies down.

"Where are we going?" I ask her.

"We have to get you to safety, you're all that matters!" She shouts over another loud rumble.

I frown slightly and stare at her back with confliction. Her wings ruffle and the fact that she even has wings at all doesn't surprise me because I know who she is, but yet I don't really know her at all.

We enter the city full of burning buildings and the fires reflect off of some of the shiny pieces of metal on them. We walk past ruined cars, cracked sidewalks, flickering street lights, and swaying telephone lines. She leads me to an area where there's barely any rubble, but we're mainly surrounded by buildings and a parking garage, except for in front of us and behind us. She turns to face me and looks me in the eyes, hers burning with determination, but in need of hope. It's as if she knows something that I don't, and it bothers me, because it feels ominous.

"Okay," She starts, "You need to get out of this city. We had to walk through it in the first place because the place you need to get to is on the other side. We can't get there without being spotted by going around, so we had to come this way. Otherwise I would've taken you through the woods or flown you over. I want you to run, run until --"

"I'm not leaving you," I shake my head.

"Now isn't the time to act all courageous, Salem," Amusement shines in her eyes but she frowns, "You need to get out of here."

"But I can't just leave you here!" I shout.

"Shh," She shushes me and glances around, "Not so loud, but yes you can. Just go, run and don't look back, it's simple."

"It isn't that simple because I don't --"

"Salem," Sadness fills her eyes and she grabs both of my hands and holds them in hers, "Please. Go."

A few more pieces of ash float down from the sky and another blast goes off in the distance. I stand there in contemplation for a few seconds before sighing and finally deciding.

"Fine, but only if you --"

"Salem!" She cuts me off, her eyes widening, "Look out!"

She pushes me out of the way and my eyes widen in surprise when someone flies by and stabs her with a glowing, white saber. The assailant lands about a yard away from her in the distance and sheathes their weapon while she falls to her knees. I rush over to her and my head starts to feel funny as I watch her. I catch her as she falls the entire way over. I cradle her in my arms as the attacker laughs. Her eyes find mine and she raises a hand to my cheek, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry about me," She says softly and I realize that I'm beginning to cry.

"You're going to be fine, just, just..." I trail off as I look down to the wound in her chest.

"Not all wounds can be healed, Salem," She says before coughing, "Please...get out of the city...and Salem...I'm glad that I met you, even if I couldn't stand you at first...I learned that you really aren't a jerk..."

I stare at her and my eyes gaze upon her frantically as her eyes flutter shut.

"Hey..." I shake her shoulder slightly, "No...no...no!"

I tilt my head back slightly and stare up at the sky. I scream out at the top of my lungs and rage overcomes me. I lower my gaze back to the figure standing in front of me and a strange feeling stirs inside me.

"Now you'll pay!" I scream.

I jolt awake and breathe heavily as I stare around my room. I wipe away the tears that formed during my sleep with a shaky hand. Lucilla rushes into my room and pulls me into a hug.

"Hey, it's okay, it's just a dream," She says.

I wind my arms around her and try to calm my breathing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks.

"No," I whisper.

"Okay," She sighs, "I hope you stop having these dreams..."

"Me too..."

"It's two in the morning," Lucilla glances at the clock and then back to me, "Do you think you'll be able to fall back asleep?"

"No," I sigh, "Why can't tomorrow be Saturday?"

"Because it just isn't, tomorrow is Wednesday. Mom doesn't know about your nightmares so you can't even stay at home and say that you were sick, plus they happen too often for that anyways," Lucilla sighs.

"You should go get some sleep," I smile at her sadly and lean back from her, "You need it."

"Alright," Lucilla smiles back at me, "I hope you feel better. Goodnight, Salem."

"Goodnight," I sigh and she leaves the room.

Since I can't sleep I do the only thing that I can do right now -- think about the mysterious girl across the hall who looks just like the girl from my dreams. I know it's silly, but when I first saw her I always thought that it was her, from the moment she arrived at my doorstep, which is also why I kept her from riding the bus that one day. I had a nightmare about the angel girl and the bus. I thought I saw the girl from my nightmares at the winning game as well, but that isn't possible because supernatural creatures don't exist...they can't...can they? Either way, I need to stay away from Aella. I guess the fact that she annoys me half the time helps too, but that's just because I don't like letting people in. It's just for the best. I crawl back into my covers and stare at the wall and think until I manage to fall asleep three hours later.