Our Shattered Wings

Chapter 2

Tori felt frozen in place as she stared at the shadows then back up at the people. What were they? Why did they have wings on their shadows.

The girl felt a jolt of panic as one of the people in the group spotted her. The young man had tan skin and short dark brown hair. His dark brown, almost black eyes stared right at Tori.

Tori didn't run though, as scared as she suddenly felt. The only movement her body made was a step back as the boy walked towards her. He narrowed his eyes, seeming to study her.

"Who are you?" The boy snapped, eyes set on Tori.

"I-.." Tori stuttered over her words, eyes widening as the boy shoved her into the wall.

"Are you a hunter?" The boy snarled, "I'll kill you." His hand went to Tori's throat. Suddenly the entire group their eyes on the two.

"No, no wait!" Tori gasped, eyes wide. "I can see your wings!"

The boy froze, eyes widening as he heard Tori. He quickly let go of her neck and stepped back. "What?"

"I can see your wings..on your shadows..." Tori breathed out, trembling. She shrunk against the wall.

The boy seemed frozen, confused. "How? You're a human.." He mumbled, eyes moving from Tori as he thought.

Hesitantly, Tori got the courage to speak without being forced to. "What are you?" She asked, her voice soft and cautious. She had no idea what was going on.

"I'm an angel." The boy said, motioning to the group near him. "We all are angels." He added, looking back at Tori. "You are only a human, right?" He asked, sounding a bit nervous.

"As far as I know, yeah I am." Tori said softly, gulping a bit. She looked at the boy, seeming to hesitate. "What's your name?" She asked.

"My name is Bazil, I'm the leader of part of the group." The boy said, extending his hand awkwardly to Tori. "I believe you call this a handshake?" His words were slow, hesitant.

Tori nodded, taking Bazil's Hand and lifting in up then back down. She let go, rubbing her hand on the side of her jeans out of habit. "I'm Tori." She glanced at the group that continued to watch them. "A leader of part?" She asked, confused.

"I'm the leader of the dark angels, Tenshi is the leader of the light angels." Bazil motioned to a shorter boy with a black side-cut. He gave a shy smile and waved. Tori waved back. "You see, we don't exactly know how we got here.." Bazil mumbled nervously.

"But whereever we are, we aren't safe." A blonde female angel spoke up, shifting nervously. Her eyes were still looking around frantically, she had yet to completely calm down.

Tori nodded, carefully walking over to the girl. She place her hands on her shoulders, getting the girl to look at her. "It's alright, I'll help you guys find somewhere safe. What's your name?"

"Grace.." The girl said softly, seeming to calm down as she listened to Tori. "Thank you."

Tori nodded, turning around with a deep breath. She looked back at Bazil, "There's a forest at the edge of town with a couple old cabins that nobody uses anymore. You should be safe there." She said, glad when Bazil nodddd.

"Just lead the way, we'll follow you." Bazil said, motioning to Tori.

Tori nodded, beginning to walk. She was glad when Bazil followed right beside her, she still had quite a few questions left. "So, are any humans supposed to see wings?" She asked, glancing at Bazil.

Bazil shook his head, running a hand through his brown hair. "No humans are supposed to. I have no idea how you're able to." He said softly.

"So I'm the only one?" Tori gulped, tensing up. Why was she the only person able to see the wings on these angels? Also, why were the angels down on earth instead of in heaven?

Tori tried to shake away the thoughts as she continued down the sidewalk. The trees from the forest soon began to come into view. She decided to get more of an understanding on why she was taking the group to the forest to hide. "What did she mean when she said you weren't safe here?" She asked.

"Angel hunters already know we're here. They can't see us of course, but that won't stop them from trying to find us. It's already kind of obvious we stick out." Bazil said, eyes set on the crowd of trees. "Are we going in there?" He asked.

Tori nodded, "Yeah, it's safe in there." She said. "But if they can't see your wings, how are they going to find you?" She looked at Bazil as their feet now stepped on a dirt path instead of a sidewalk

"Well, you're not very safe anymore. If they find our you can tell us from humans, they're going to try to find you. You'll need to be extremely careful with who you tell about this. I don't exactly know their other ways to find us, but they do it somehow." Bazil explained, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. "But I think it will be hard for them to find us in the middle of a.. forest, thank you for helping us." He seemed to hesitate finding the right word.

Tori tensed as she realized she would be in trouble, she settled on not telling anyone about her new found power. She'd keep it to herself, that should keep her safe. As she heard Bazil thank her, she smiled. "Oh of course, no problem. I guess we kind of need to work together now." She could see a small smile creep onto the corner on Bazil's lips. Proudly, the girl led the rest of the way to the cabins.

When the group reached the cabins, Tori extended her arms in a way of introducing the three log homes. "Here they are. They aren't much but I'm sure they'll work nicely. There should be plenty of couches and beds for you guys to rest and I'll try to bring you some food tomorrow." Tori said happily. She turned around to see all of the angels staring in amazement at the building before them.

Soon a few of the angels ran into the cabins, wanting to explore the buildings. Tori smiled, watching them. Her eyes widened and she tensed up a bit when Bazil walked back over to her.

"Thank you for this, be careful getting back home." Bazil said, trying to sound comforting but seeming too tense.

Tori's smile grew as she heard what Bazil said. "Of course, I'll see you all tomorrow morning." She nodded to Bazil before turning and heading back into town.

That went pretty well, Tori felt good about how she helped. But there was one question still remaining, one about Bazil.

Why did his wings have tears in them? None of the other angels had holes or tears in their wings. What had happened to Bazil?