The Hunter's Angel

Chapter 1: Angel's P.O.V

(Hunter above)

He is watching me again, from the corner of the small bookstore that I work in. He does this every time I'm on check-out duty, he just comes in and sits right on that old yellow couch. I feel bad for the piece of furniture, compared to him, it looks like a child's chair.

I find it strange how there are bigger places for him to sit, yet he chooses to sit there. I asked why once, all he said was that it was the best place for him to keep an eye on me. I don't know why since I don't do anything wrong and I'm not in any kind of trouble, but I must admit it kind of makes me feel special to have him looking out for me. Not that I would ever tell him that or else I would have to put up with him following me around all day.

His name is Hunter Kingsley and I don't quite know what we are, but my best bet would be that we are friends if not friends than acquaintances.

Hunter has short black hair, a pair of reddish brown eyes, a slightly crooked nose from it being broken countless times, a strong jaw with high cheekbones and his skin is a bit tanned probably from him spending too much time in the sun. At twenty-six he has a massively built body that could rival a prison's walls. Even while sitting down he is still a foot taller than my form, but when standing to his full height he can reach six foot six inches. Taller than most of the people in our small-sized town.

Hunter wore loose red sweatpants, a pair of old black sneakers and a dark grey hoodie vest that was only zipped up halfway showing his tree trunk-like arms and part of his chest. He looked handsome today, but then again, he did every day. I guess I was staring for too long because his lips tilted up into a small smile that disappeared as quickly as it came. I wonder why?

"Angel, we have a new shipment of children's books. Do you mind staying after work to stack the shelves?" An eager male voice sounded from behind me.

I jumped, startled. I turn around to see Joey leaning against the staff room doorway, right across from where I was standing at the checkout desk. I smiled up at Joey. I never really liked Joey, something in my gut told me that I couldn't trust him. Joey was scrawny and pale, but at eighteen he was tall about six foot two inches, he had shaggy brown hair, sharp features and light blue eyes. For some reason whenever I look into his eyes, they have an evil glint in them, it's as if he is going to strike at any moment. I shake my head to get rid of the bad thoughts.

"Is that a no?" Joey asks, most likely mistaking my head shaking for an answer.

"No, no I will help," I say quietly with a polite smile.

He returns my smile with a big grin of his own and turns to walk down the main hallway to the storage room. I sigh not wanting to stay late. I look over my shoulder at Hunter to see him staring back at me with cold hard eyes. I give him a smile and a wave of my hand before I walk after Joey.

We reach the storage room and I see at least thirteen boxes. I inwardly groan at the sight of them, but I cannot leave Joey to do it himself. I start by opening the first box.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took nearly three and a half hours to stack and shelve all the books. My shift ended a while ago, but at least it's done. I sure hope the kids love them I know I do, but I don't know about Joey. Speaking of Joey, I cannot seem to find him, he said he was just going to get some coffee, but he hasn't come back yet. Oh well, I'm sure he had a good reason for leaving. I put the last cardboard box in the flat pile and headed to the front to lock it up. When I closed the door, I turned to see Hunter standing there with a blank expression. I gasp not expecting him to be here or this close and I tumble backwards into the door.

Hunter always walks me home after work because we don't exactly live in a safe and friendly neighbourhood, but I didn't expect him to wait out this late for me. Now I feel bad for making him stand out in the cold. I frown at the sudden thought. Why would he wait for me?

"King, what are you doing here?" I ask, still frowning.

I try to not say his name because when I did once he made a weird noise and warned me to never call him 'Hunter' again. He is quite scary when he is angry. He makes growling sounds like a hungry bear. He doesn't answer me, just grunts and guides me down the chilly street.

We walk in silence to the apartment building where we both live, that is how we mainly agreed with being friends. We both went to the same schools growing up, we even graduated from high school the same year too. When we reached our building, it was a little past eight. I enter the lobby first and make my way up the stairs. The elevator is always broken. We live across from each other on the third floor, so it isn't that far of a walk, plus I like the exercise.

I stand outside my door and go through my handbag for my keys. I can hear Hunter behind me going through his sports bag, most likely trying to find his keys too. It's kind of weird how I can tell which footsteps are his by the sound they make. I unlock my front door and rush inside leaving Hunter in the hallway.

I go to my bedroom, after I put my bag on the coffee table, to pick out some clothes for bed. I don't necessarily have a big variety of clothes in my closet only the necessities, but mostly just warm clothing as it's nearly always cold where I live and because my heating isn't very good, or you know working haha.

I grab my usual light grey sweatpants and my black sports bra, I don't like to sleep with a regular shirt or bra on nor do I like to sleep topless, so a sports bra seems perfect. I go into my bathroom to have a shower. My bathroom is very small, but to me it is cosy. I mean sure the paint is peeling and there are a few leaks here and there, but it's my bathroom so I'm happy the way it is. Everything has something wrong with it and if it's perfect it isn't real.

I have a bathtub with a shower head hanging off the wall above it, the sink is on the right wall by the door and the mirrored cabinets above it have a few cracks from an incident involving a bobby pin and Hunter. The toilet is next to the bath but is opposite to the shower head and the bath is up against the back wall with a stained-glass window embedded higher up on the wall close to the roof. I turn the water on, undress and hop in.

I come out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my head. When my hair is nearly dry I unwrap the towel and put it in the washing basket beside my bedroom door. I crawl into my single-sized bed, I pull my big blue blanket over me and curl up into a ball. I silently think goodnight to my best friend.

Goodnight, Hunter Kingsley