Desolation Comes Upon the Sky

Heartache

August 11th, 2012

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Alex stumbled down the wooden stairs, fingers barely catching on the smooth, polished banister to keep her from falling onto the floor below. "Jody?"she called, running a hand through her messy blonde hair. She was sure she had heard a noise, but her grace told her that there was no one in the house. Where had everyone gone? "Hello?"

The front door clicked open, and the angel's wings rose, a defensive noise growing in her throat as her feathers bristled. However, it quickly died when she recognized the newcomers; Jody Mills stepped through the front door, the fledgling held securely in her arms. "You're up," the sheriff noted, a gruffness to her voice. "About time."

Alex grunted, not a fan of her tone, but she made no rebuke. "Where did you go?" she asked instead as the sheriff moved into the living room. Alex followed behind, feet dragging slightly on the carpeted floor.

"Shopping," came the response. "I figured we'd be needing a few things for our little guest." The sheriff turned to Alex and held out the fledgling, and the young angel hesitated, unsure what to do. "Take him," Jody insisted, seeing Alex's reluctance. "He's your kid, you know." When Alex did so, tucking the infant delicately against her chest, the sheriff continued her previous thought. "I need to go unpack the trunk. You stay here. Oh and, uh," the sheriff handed Alex a small, yellowed piece of parchment, "I found this tucked inside his clothes last night. Can't read it for the life of me."

"O...kay." Alex sank down onto the couch, fingers toying nervously with the fledgling's soft feathers as she set the paper down beside her. She heard the door close behind Jody, leaving the two angels alone, and Alex awkwardly cleared her throat. "Okay," she repeated, and she winced at how unsure her voice sounded.

The fledgling wiggled in her arms at the sound, small hands opening and closing as he stared up at Alex with wide, blue eyes. It let out a jumble of syllables before it stopped, listening, and Alex tipped her own head as the air conditioning kicked in. The whole house began to hum as cold air seeped through the vents, and the fledgling's eyes widen in fear at the strange and sudden turn of events.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Alex's eyes grew with his as she felt him start to tense, and she desperately curled her grace around his, trying to hold him still. "Wait, no- P-Please don't cry."

Admittedly, she wasn't surprised when the infant didn't listen. Tears filled his eyes, and a wail erupted from his mouth as the fledgling screwed up its small, red face.

"Uh — uh — no. No no no." Alex pulled her hands away, freezing up as the child screamed out its discomfort. "P-Please don't do that . . . uh, kid. Oh God." She gingerly touched his grace with hers, jumping slightly as it grabbed ahold.

Suddenly the fledgling was out of her lap, and Alex looked up to see Jody Mills standing there, coddling the infant in her arms. The infant calmed down almost immediately, its wailing fading into half-choked sobs of slowly fading fear. "You weren't lying about not being good with kids, huh?" the sheriff half-joked.

"Babies are scary." Alex fidgeted nervously on the couch as the sheriff slowly calmed the infant down, embarrassed that Jody had come in to see her panicking like that. "I-I don't know what to do."

The angel's wings tensed as Jody Mills returned the fledgling to her lap, and her hands quickly went out to rest on his sides as she looked up in fear. "Calm down." Jody sat down on the couch beside her, and Alex shifted as the cushions dipped. "He can feel that you're nervous."

"L-Like a dog." The angel tried to crack a joke, but it failed, leaving her to drop her gaze back to the child. She took in a deep breath and focused hard, forcing the tension to leave her body. "O-Okay. Now what?"