Wings

Ch. 05: All Business and No Play

Jasper's eyes held focus on the new angel, Efah, as she heard Mr. Haslam ask the class what they know about dark and fallen angels. One girl raised her hand to answer the typical religious trash of the angels having refuted God's will and being cast down to follow Lucifer. Even Jasper almost rolled her eyes, but instead she kept them trained on the angel in front of her who's hand flexed. 'Don't. Do. It.' Jasper thought, hoping that maybe Efah could hear her thoughts if she thought hard enough.

Thankfully, the electricity in the air died down as Efah pushed earbuds into her ears and Jasper watched the tension release from Cas's shoulders. Yet another scene had been avoided. Jasper thanked her ancestors for she had no idea how she would manage to clean up Efah's mess if she--as a currently unannounced angel--hurt a human and risked making more humans aware of other creatures' existence.

Most likely, the council would move to sentence an abolishment of her and possibly even push for a death sentence. Jasper wiped at the sweat beaded on her brow. 'Not even past highschool and I feel as stressed as a leader of a nation' she thought to herself. She let out one last sigh and ducked her head back into her arms for the rest of the class.

As soon as the class ended, Jasper waited long enough for Efah to leave the room and Cas to reach her side before she grabbed Cas's arm and pulled him out into the hallway and around a corner. "She's dangerous," Jasper whispered harshly, "she's dangerous, because she's an unannounced angel walking around town with anger issues. We don't know her--nobody does--and if we don't do anything to make her known to our council, we'll be held responsible."

"That's why we take her to the summonings tonight, O'Celevano," Cas replied, already acting slightly annoyed. "We can't just present her to the council without knowing what she is, Castiel," Jasper mumbled, already done with Cas.

"She's an angel, Jasper. That's enough," Cas spat, crossing his arms over his chest and straightening his back. Jasper thought about smacking him. 'If only he wasn't Elenora's son,' she thought seethingly. "But she doesn't have the same aura as you; she's different," Jasper tried, hoping to get through Castiel's thick, privileged skull.

"Okay, so she's not a light angel, but she is still an angel and that's what we need to present to the council," Cas pointed out, making Jasper want to smack him even more for making valid points. But, it still wasn't enough. The council didn't like not having all the information gathered beforehand; they deemed it a waste of time and disrespectful. Maybe prettyboy Cas could get away with presenting half the facts, but a lower council member like Jasper couldn't.

"But what if they ask us what type of angel she is? If we don't have the answer, they will refuse to see her," Jasper counteracted. "Well, have you tried to talk to her?" Cas continued. Jasper groaned and tightened her hand into a fist. If she hadn't already tried and failed at talking to Efah, she surely wouldn't be having this discussion with Castiel. Sometimes she thought that the council members really shouldn't be chosen by bloodline. Or, perhaps, Elenora could have at least educated her son more.

"Yes, but she doesn't talk much. She isn't a people-person." Cas groaned and pulled his hair. Jasper heard the fawning of human girls nearby who watched Cas tug at his hair in pure awe. 'If only they knew how disagreeable and stupid he was,' Jasper thought as she side-eyed one particular group of girls who looked ready to spread their legs. "We have to bring her to the council," Cas said, stating the obvious.

"I'm not," Jasper quickly replied, unwilling to go down at the summonings for not presenting a quality report of a new power within the community.

"What?" Cas stammered out.

"I refuse to bring her to the council until I know more about her." Jasper now crossed her arms under her chest and narrowed her eyes in the slightest. "We don't have time for this, Jasper." Again, Jasper felt frustrated, because Cas only stated the hard truth of which she was already aware. "I won't do it, Castiel. I refuse." Jasper said boldly, ready for their conversation to end.