Angels Blade

Chapter 4

"I can't believe you let this happen." Wendy snarled as she had her back turned to Philip. Philip was in the front seat driving, following the directions from the GPS that seemed in his mind to be sending them in circles.
"This isn't just my fault, you know."
"I guess you're right. We didn't make the best first impression."
The brunette was going to say more but stopped himself when he saw the dejected look on his partners face.
"We'll find her." He said confidently. Wendy gave him a sideways glance and huffed a bit. She pulled out her tablet and stared down at the blonde girls profile picture.
"She's so young. She doesn't deserve this." Wendy sighed. Philip could only nod in agreement as he came to a stop in front of a small grey building. A two story grey house with a small porch and a blue front door stood across the street.
"Is that it?" Wendy asked, peering over him at the house.
"Yep." Philip answered. Just then the front door opened and out walked Akira. She turned and locked the door behind her before heading left down the sidewalk.
"Should we catch up to her?" Wendy asked, her hand hovering over the car door handle.
"Let's wait a bit. We'll catch her on her way home." Wendy nodded as Philip started up the car and followed the teenager deeper into the city.

I stepped into the small hardware store and was immediately overcome with the smell of old sawdust. It was an old store, the kind parents passed down to their kids and their kids passed down to their own kids and so on. While walking down aisles I was confronted by a poc-faced red head in a blue store blazer. His droopy eyes and short stature made him look a lot younger than I bet he actually was.
"Can I help you?" he asked. I didn't really need the help but I was guessing he was bored since I was the only customer in the tiny store that afternoon. I had slept quite a few hours and by the time I woke it was almost 3:00. I laxed around for a few more hours before finally deciding to do something productive and come here.
"Yes." I said with a smile. "I have a 'raccoon' problem. Do you have 'raccoon' traps?" I used air quotes around the word raccoon which greatly confused the young man but he showed me where they were nonetheless. I picked out a good sized one and the teen helped me carry it to the register.
"Do you want to buy or rent it?" he asked.
"I guess I'll buy it." I said. I didn't want to bother having to come back again. I gave him the money and carried the contraption out the door. Outside the sun was beginning to set and a cold winter wind was sweeping down the streets. I pulled up my hood to fight against the wind but it didn't help much and I shivered despite it. Damn winter. I started heading towards my house but couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched. Then I turned the corner and there they were, the red-headed girl and the brunette male from earlier that morning. The man smiled when he saw me and walked forward cautiously.
"Good afternoon, Akira." he said with a bow. I gnored the two and walked straight past them but they followed me.
"We need to talk." The male said behind me.
"I don't want to talk to you." I answered.
"But we need to. Its for your own good."
"I don't know you so I don't care."
"You are in great danger!"
"And I'm not listening."
The two continued to follow me all the way to my house. I sighed to myself as the older male rambled on behind me about safety and danger, his female friend following just a few steps back. I took the two steps up to my front door and unlocked the door, held it ajar as I beckoned the male in. He looked at me confused, obviously having expected me to slam the door in his face.
"It's the middle of the night and I don't want you loitering around outside my house. Whatever you have to say you can say inside."
"Fine then." He said, stepping past me and into the darkened room. His female colleague followed close behind. She gave you a small respectful bow as she passed by me through the threshold. Once inside the pair paced idly by the door, taking in the surrounding. I, on the other hand, strided right by them and into the open kitchen where you set your school bag down on the square island.
"Just let me make one thing clear." I said with my back still turned to them. "Just because I let you in my house does not mean I trust you. Try anything weird and there will be hell to pay." Out of the eye of two adults you fingered the silver switchblade in your jacket pocket. It's cold ridges made your fingertips tingle slightly as you recalled certain unspoken thrills.
"I understand if you don't trust us." The male said.  "But you need to understand that we are only here to help. We are the good guys here."
Saying that they were the good guys automatically implied that there were bad guys as well, not the monsters from before, perhaps something more human. I swing myself around to face the two, pulling myself up to sit on the kitchen island.
"Say your piece." I said. "I will listen with an open mind." The two adults looked at each other before stepping towards me. I faked a flinch that caused the man to tense and take a step back. I hadn't known them long but I was already enjoying the amount of control I had over these two people who believed me to be an innocent kid.
"My name is Philip." The man said. "And this is my friend and colleague Wendy." He waved towards the red head. "We are guardians of the afterlife sent her to keep you safe."
"Safe? Safe from what?" I ask, feeding them the lines.
"Various things. First thing you should know is that there is more to this world then what you can see. The world is made of three parts: Humans, Demons, and Angels-"
"What are you?" I ask, cutting him off. He glances nervously over his shoulder at Wendy before returning his gaze to me.
"We fall into a separate category. We are not human, but we are not angel or demon either. Neither are you."
"What do you mean?"
"You may not believe me, but you are the human reincarnation of a being we refer to as the Angel of Death. A holy being who looks after the afterlife and is neither angel nor demon but instead something in between."
I stare at him blank faced for a second. He didn't expect me to take all this seriously right? Then I catch the eyes of Wendy and see just how serious her expression is while she tries to stand brave on the outside but on the inside is trembling in fear over my reaction.  'Go along with it.' I think to myself. You don't have to trust them, just hear what they have to say. This whole thing will go by a lot faster without you denying everything.
"Is this why those things attacked me?" I asked, turning my gaze away as if the thought of the monsters from before terrified me.
"The Angel of Death is an important person. I will not lie, there will be monsters coming here in the future trying to distort you."
"Distort?" I asked confused. I had expected them to want me dead.
"You are an important figure so there will be people who will try to control you. They will go to drastic lengths to manipulate your power. That's why we are here. We will teach you how to use your powers to protect yourself while at the same time keeping you safe from those who will try to harm you."
What they are saying makes sense to me but at the same time sounds like complete fiction. It was a plot taken straight from a fantasy game with very little real world value woven in. Still looking down at the two I quickly saw that I had no choice to believe them. If I turned them away now they would most likely just keep following me and truth be told I was kind of worried about what would happen next time I came across one of those monsters from before. Could I kill it by myself? Could I run away?
"I'll choose to believe you (but I'm not going to trust you)." I said, jumping off the kitchen island.

The three of us sat around my small dining room table. Philip and Wendy were telling me everything they thought I would need to know about monsters and demons and such.
"Monsters are dangerous because they don't know exactly  what they want. One monster may try to kidnap you and bring you down to its world while another may kill you without a second thought. There are different types of monsters but shadow monsters are the most common here because they can take over people's body's and hide out in them for a few days, so you have to be careful of those."
I nodded in understanding and continued to take notes, or at least I was pretending to, in truth I was just doodling pictures of zombies on a white notebook paper.
"Monsters are bad but the ones you really have to look out for are demons and Angels. Demons will appear human at first glance but don't let that fool you.  They move around in groups and while they are not likely to kill you they also wont hesitate to harm you if you don't do as they say. Demons can be killed but Angels are immortal. You can inflict bodily harm onto one if it attacks you but you will never actually be able to kill one." I looked away from Philip and back down at the zombie on my paper. The zombie's knees were bent sideways, large drool lines hanging from its detached jaw, and it had a large knife protruding from its skull. I noticed Philip had stopped talking so I quickly looked back up at him to feign paying attention.
"Are you okay?" he asked, a look of concern in his dark brown eyes. I realized then that I may have been acting too normal. They expected me to be shocked or at least frightened by this information.
"It's a bit much." I said quietly, raising my shoulders and peering at the floor as I tried to appear timid and shy. It worked, as I felt a hand fall on my shoulder and squeeze it lightly.
"It's going to be okay." Wendy said as she had scooted next to me. "We'll protect you." She pulled me to her chest in a gentle hug. I froze, not used to the close contact. Philip saw this and pulled us apart.
"That's a bit too close, Wendy." He said, pulling her chair away from mine.
"Sorry." She muttered. I was unsure whether the apology was meant for me or Philip but decided I didn't care much either way.

Hours later and both Wendy and Philip had passed out on the living room couch. I stood in the kitchen watching the rise and fall of Philips chest as he breathed in and out. A dark thought to an easy solution came to my mind but I quickly pushed it aside. I didn't know these people so I didn't trust them but that doesn't mean that I should do....that. Leaning down I picked the raccoon trap up off the floor where I left it and opened the kitchen window. I was very careful setting it down on the cold earth. I reached out and tore some leaves off the nearest tree and spread them over the metal cage to conceal it. Once I was satisfied that it was well hidden I closed the window and walked back upstairs to my own bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.