Angel~Devil

Chapter 1 - Part 1

(Author's notes: Hey - Well, thanks for reading. Fair warning, this starts off a little depressing, but I promise that it will get brighter in time!! It's mostly Gabriel's narration that makes it dark, since he's an angsty boy, but I swear it will cheer up once we get to Jynx's chapter!

I'm posting these chapters in two parts each, because it means I can put them up much faster [typing and redrafting is a pain in the ass and it takes ages, as I'm sure many of you know], so stay tuned for more updates! I'm hoping to have one out a week until the end of chapter three, and then it will probably slow a little, since I'll have typed up everything I've written so far!

Hope you enjoy, and likes/comments would be highly appreciated?

- Sacrificial-Queen, 14/02/'17)

The hallways were crammed full of students following the last bell of the school day's sharp trill. Everyone was, as always, desperate to get home, apart from a select few that were still crowded around the outside of the back building.

The prestigious Phillips Academy may have been one of the most expensive schools in the Above, and certainly boasted the most intelligent children, but it was still, at the most basic level, a school. So it was no surprise to anyone that a fight had broken out.

Gabriel silently assessed his situation: Cole, a tall blonde athlete, had him crushed up hard against the wall, one hand holding tight to his throat, the other drawn back somewhere out of his field of view. He assumed it was clenched into a fist - He couldn't see to confirm this, though, since the first thing Cole had done after grabbing him by the back of his collar had been to pull off his little oval spectacles and shatter them on the hard brick of the wall.

He was afraid to move, in case he should step on them, and worsen whatever damage had already been done, and he was even more afraid to fight back; If he swung at Cole and failed to get away after, the resulting beating would be twice as bad.

Fleetingly, one of Gabriel's hands trailed down into his pocket, fingering the small pop gun he kept there. It was only for last resort escapes in school, as most of his teachers looked for every possible reason to get him in trouble in an effort to try and get him expelled. His mismatched style of dress, and scraped palms marred the school's nice image, and no matter how impeccably polite he was, how hard he worked in class, nothing would ever change the fact that the staff, and most of the students, despised his presence among them.

He let go, instead reaching up to gently pull at Cole's hand, trying to get some pressure off his windpipe, and barely succeeding... He could see the other hand coming toward him, but it was moving much too slowly to be a hit to his face, unless Cole was moving slowly in order to make him let his guard down, and planned to slap him as soon as he relaxed.

Gabriel seriously doubted that Cole possessed the IQ to make that sort of plan, but he never knew with this school; Sometimes students were misleading, muscular boys who were top of the state in maths, and tiny skinny students who were strong enough to throw him over their shoulders with one hand.

The intent of the hand nearing his face quickly became clear, though, as Cole's rough fingers prodded into the corner of his right eye, pinching the cotton-wool patch that covered Gabriel's empty socket.

"How about we see what's under here, huh?" Cole's 'huh' sounded a bit like the grunting of a pig, which was only too fitting - It was almost amusing, for a mere moment before Cole actually began to peel away the patch. What followed was a moment of blind panic as Gabriel pulled the pop gun from his pocket as the same time as he jerked his face away.

Cole stumbled back with a very effeminate shriek, obviously thinking Gabriel had shot him, that the gutter rat was violent as well as poor and filthy, and Gabriel took the opportunity to drop to the floor, locate his glasses and run like all hell.