The Sky Tomorrow

Chapter 10

(Ari's PoV)

"No don't do this; no no this is bad," I muttered looking down at night as I ran. I'd left Trace behind, but I was going to go back and get him (while I didn't like him, I wasn't going to flat out leave him, let alone at night knocked out.) as soon as I got Night to safety. She was pale and her ankle was swollen, that stupid messenger must've broken it. I growled at the thought of it. At least I knew that it was the worst we'd face tonight. There wasn't anywhere I could get anything for Night, so I'd have to hide her until daytime. I was far enough from the place we were attacked that I could drop her where I was and hidden her in some bushes, and her scent would mostly be masked by mine, so the chances of her being approached were low. She was safe. I turned back and quickly ran through the forest back to where we were attacked and found Trace where I'd left him. Like Night, he was also badly injured. I winced as I picked him up, seeing the blood on the back of his head only reminded me of what a bad job I'd done of protecting them, and then leaving them against a demon like that didn't make it any better. I'd put them in danger, and made them fight against my problem. What was meant for me, I dumped on them, just like I had to my adoptive family. I could feel the guilt being dumped on me, just like before, but worse, since once again I'd run away from the problems that would catch up to me. I knew this, yet I kept running. Hoping that one day, they'd just go away. No. I went to prison. I lost the ones who loved me, I hurt the one friend I'd made in a long time. I felt like crying. I wanted to be better than who I was, but here I was, doing what I always did. 'What a coward,' I thought. 'You're such a coward!' I kept scolding myself as I sat in front of the bush I hid Night.

It felt like hours as I sat and thought. It reminded me of when I still lived with my dad. I shivered. He made me feel like I was nothing. Like I wasn't worth anything. I'd learned over time that it wasn't true, but I hadn't come out of the situation completely clean. I was covered in scars in my natural form, they would never go away, even if I was a half demon with better healing, the scars never faded, and I was left with the reminder that he had once taken control of my life. I was once a toy. No, I had to protect them. I had to protect myself, I wasn't going to let some demon tell me what to do. I was in control of my life. How was it that I was allowing myself to be captured?

(Maise's PoV)

After eating and having small conversations with the strange group, we left the restaurant and they followed me as I went to retrieve my paint and brushes. I'd have to work on my mural sometime later, whenever I decided to return to it. It felt weird to be followed by a group of angels I hardly knew, but for the most part I didn't mind it as it was what I was doing earlier anyway. It wasn't long before we'd made it to the wall I'd been working on; which was a shorter distance than what I'd thought it was. Then again, I was pretty much stalking a bunch of angels I didn't know for about half my day. I probably didn't even notice. Thinking over that, it made me sound like I was crazy. "S-so, you're a painter?" a small voice asked from beside me, and I almost jumped out of my skin by the small girl who walked beside me. "Sorta," I said looking at the white-haired angel. "I do a lot of other things too, but I guess painting is my "main" thing." Winter nodded in understanding. "I'm not very good at painting, but I like to draw sometimes." I could hardly hear her, but it felt nice that she was making an effort befriend me.

To put it simply, I was a bit hard to get along with. I wasn't as social as other angels, and I had a lot of anxiety; or that was what I called it. It was something I found in humans that had a similar "condition" to mine. I panicked and needed to be near someone I knew that would be able to help me. It's not that I didn't like other angels; I did, but I just didn't like to be stuck in a crowd, especially alone. So, because of my social inability, I left it up to other angels to approach and talk to me instead of doing it myself.

I decided to bring them to my house and have my mother talk to them, while I made tea and welcomed them. It was nice and quiet, with the six of us talking. Joseph told us where they were staying and their plans to leave in three days, and my mom was overjoyed, since it was the first group of friends I (sort of) had. She even volunteered me to go along with them, since I knew the area and so on. I was somewhat embarrassed, and scared deep down. I was about to leave my mom behind, and I didn't know when I was coming back. I didn't want to leave her like my "so-called" dad did, but at the same time, I wanted to make her happy, and not let the friends I just made go. So, in the end, I agreed.

(Winter's PoV)

That night Maise led us back to the place we were staying and the waved goodbye until tomorrow. We were all tired and were ready for sleep as soon as we arrived. The un was setting and the moon was out, reminding me of how I was a day angel, and would have to go to bed soon, regardless of how much I wanted to stay up and talk to Maise. Within the short period of time, I think it was safe to say we had become pretty good friends. We had pretty much gotten along for our interest in art, and she gave me tips on how to improve myself. She was living in a city based around art and beauty, and it showed. Not only were the buildings and food beautiful, but the angels were too, and they made me feel subconscious, and wish I'd at least brought some nicer looking clothes with me. I knew that even with nicer clothes I'd still look sleep deprived and a bit dirty from flying from hours on end. Even Maise, who was covered in paint and had only prepared to paint today, looked a lot better than I did. I somewhat envied her. However, I knew Dawn would taunt me about it, so I tried not to think about it too much. Speaking of Dawn...I hadn't heard her for two days, why had she appeared and then left me so suddenly? I wondered, what was to happen in the future now?