Angels

Chapter 1

“Mamma,” a blind girl whispered to the old willow tree, she could tell was dying, “will you be happy in your next life?” “I’m sure I will,” she replied in a voice only the girl could hear. Her branches seemed to curl around her as she lay next to the old tree. She may have been blind but it was an odd blind. She could see the light of ones life, and her dearest and oldest friend’s light was going out for good.

“I’ll miss you Mamma,” she hugged the tree’s trunk and tried to keep from crying. She called her Mamma due to her motherly ways and age. She was gone by the end of that sentence and the girl lifted herself up off the ground and looked around. The forest was a buzz with life and the sky had no moon, she could see she wasn’t going to go home with any scrapes or bruises. She began towards home when a bird chirped loudly at her saying that someone was hurt! She wasted no time asking questions and followed the bird’s brownish light to a wounded man lying on the ground. His light was the whitest and brightest she’d ever seen!

She gasped in awe as she could see the outline of him in dark lines. He was hurt badly but not so much that he’d die, his light burnt brightly, more so then any other. “Is someone there,” he called, knowing the answer.

She walked to his side and dropped to her knees lifting his head slightly, “Where are you hurt, and can you walk? My brother is a doctor, but I’m much to small to lift you by myself. If you could stand and hobble with me towards my home, I‘m sure he’ll be able to fix you up,” she said it quickly and quietly as not to hurt his head if he had what she assumed to be a spitting headache. He didn’t respond but began to rise with her help and he said nothing as she helped him to her home.

She banged on the door for her brother’s attention and he swung the door open, “Where have you been?! I’ve...been...holy shit! What happened to you!?” He grabbed the guy from his sisters arm, she had been letting him lean on her, and carried him into the house. He took him to the bath room and she heard nothing of either of them for a good hour or more. When they finally came out she could see his smile, and she smiled at him and her brother. “He’ll be fine now, thanks to you Angelo,” her brother said happily and led the man across the hall. “Is it ok that he stays in your room? My room is such a mess, heh you’d think the blind girl’d have a messier room but nooo!” They all giggled and Angelo agreed that he could stay there. She followed them to her room and her brother switched on the light, it sent her back a few steps, she wasn’t used to the brightness. Remember she was a strange kind of blind. She closed her eyes and stood in the doorway waiting for her brother to get the man settled and leave. Davied, her brother, touched her shoulder and thanked her again for saving that man and left them alone.

She groped along the wall and found the light switch, “Can I turn this off?” She asked him, she couldn’t tell if he had nodded or not and so she hesitated.

“Yes,” he finally said after realizing she hadn’t seen him nod. She turned the light off and was now sure footed and went right to his side, looked him right in the eye and smiled. There was a glow from the corner, a nightlight that was light activated. “How’d that happen,” he asked nodding at her face, she involuntarily combed her hair before her eyes. He smiled and raised a bandaged hand to brush away the hair. He touched her cheek, just below her eye where there was a scar. The scar ran from her eyebrow down to where he was touching, and the same on the other eye. That was no accident, precision was taken when it happened.

She smiled sadly and looked away from him down her bed. He held her chin and brought her unnatural gaze back on his face. She frowned and touched his face, a bandage was over one eye. “Will your eye be alright,” she asked not meaning to change the subject but to start her own story.

“Yes it will, thanks to you and your brother. He said it’ll take about a week or less to heal, thank you so much for saving me. I owe you my life...Angelo was it? Such a strange name for a girl. Adding to my previous question, why are you named that?”

“My mother wanted another boy,” she said simply then laughed. “You really want to know what happened to me? You’re sure?” He chuckled and nodded, she went on, “Well then. It was about, what eight years ago? Ten? Hmm, yes I believe it was 14 years ago. My mother, after being disappointed with having a girl slowly began to lose her mind. It was a sad time for us all. My father never really believed that we should take her somewhere, that he would try and ‘fix’ her by himself. One day I was outside playing when she started calling for me. She was in the kitchen and told me she had a surprise. Me, being a little child of 6 was excited and ran to her...never knowing what was in store. She had a demented look on her face and her right hand was behind her back. She beckoned me with her left and I was a bit afraid but she was my mother and she had something ‘special’ for me. I went to her and she punched me in the face with her left hand. I fell and she stepped on me, right here.” She put her hand over her pelvis, “She crushed, no shattered my hip bones. The bones poked through my skin, and she didn’t stop there. She had a knife behind her back and she literally cut me open where she had stepped, I was screaming and squirming. She was cutting at my ovaries and uterus as I watched in horror. She stopped and looked satisfied, then she looked into my eyes. She grabbed my hair and my head went back, before slitting my eyes she said, ‘This is for your own good honey. Now you can be like a boy, but I have to take your eyes so you can’t tell, ok?’”

Angelo fell silent and looked down at herself. Her hands cupped her tiny breasts then fell, she shook her head and pushed her hair out of her face this time. She looked right at him and shrugged. “Mother got her wish, but she didn’t stick around to see me. After she had done that to me, I was on the verge of death. They said it was a miracle that I lived, though they had a hard time fixing me. Mother killed herself before she got in trouble, she thought she had done a good thing, and Father left...he said I was the cause of it all. Davied though, he knew the truth! It wasn’t my fault...it wasn’t...” Again she fell silent and then her body began to shake. She was trying to keep from crying but it was no use. Some people say you forget traumatizing events in your childhood, but she always had a perfect memory and everything was as clear as it was that day. “I’m so sorry to have asked,” the man said touching her shoulder. She shook her head and touched his hand lightly, trying not to hurt him. “I’m glad you lived,” he said simply, not knowing what else to say. “My name is Luce. It’s a great pleasure to meet you Angelo.” He had a great smile, he extended his hand for her to shake and she took it carefully.

She wiped away a few tears with her free hand and pumped his hand twice, “The pleasure is all mind. You need your rest now Luce.” She had been kneeling by the bedside but now she stood to leave. “I’m sorry I stole your bed,” he called after her as she began to close the door. She just smiled a little at him and left. The house was dark, her brother was now sleeping soundly in his bed. She sighed and trotted down the steps into the kitchen soaking up the horrible memory. She lifted her shirt slightly and touched the bolt that was just beneath the skin. Her stomach growled and she found something to oblige the monster in her belly that was ever hungry.

She went into the living room and soon, with a full stomach weighing her down, she fell asleep. Despite her sad and horrific reminiscing, her dreams were sweet. They were of butterflies and kittens, puppies and clouds, and ever popular among her angels. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that angels weren’t those silly little things flying around on little wings. They weren’t chubby critters, or beautiful women in long silken robes. Though there were women angels they didn’t dress in robes of silk or some other material. Angels wore nothing, and they did so proudly, and they had every right to, they were beautiful! She enjoyed those dreams when they would come down from the clouds and there feathers would scatter in the wind and they would greet her with smiles. This time there was a different angel, not the same as always. He was beneath a tree, face shadowed. He beckoned her and she trotted happily over to him in her “birthday suit” like them. All she saw was his smile before she was being shaken away.

“Angelo! Would you fucking wake up already!? Jeez-us! What the hell were you dreaming about? Oh well it doesn’t matter! Look, I have to go out, those people I applied for have called me in! I have a job,” her brother was bouncing around, she could hear it. It was daytime, and everything was in a dim sort of light. Night was her favorite because that’s when she could see again. She had sat up in an alarmed way looking around in a half awake state, still seeing his smile in her mind. She flopped back down and closed her eyes mumbling her congratulations to her brother. He shook her again, her back was to him, “Angelooooooo! You have to get up! You’ll need to help our guest change his bandages soon! Get UP!” She groaned and rolled off the couch, hitting the floor on her stomach and began to crawl towards the stairs. She knew that house by now, after so long. She, like an animal, crawled on all fours up the stairs in a groggy manor. She was even growling like an animal for having been woken up, she was tired! Having helped him all the way back to the house and all. “Oh, and Angelo! You might wanna change your clothes, shower and clean the couch off, you had some of his blood on you yesterday.”

She groaned then sniffed the air. Yep, that was the smell of dried blood. She hadn’t realized sooner due to her tired state. She shuffled into the bathroom and washed her hands and face, then brushed her teeth. She went to her room and opened the door “Gah! Too bright,” she groaned. She shielded her eyes and flew backwards into the hallway wall.

“Oh,” she heard Luce’s voice called. She listened to him hobble over to her and put a good hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, are you alright? Oh...you have some blood on you...oops,” she could tell he was making a face. She still had her hands over her eyes and didn’t dare move them. The curtains had been drawn to let the light into her room. Seeing as the window is parallel to the door, and that window faces the east she got a full blast of sunlight into her eyes. She pushed past him and stumbled to the window, she let the curtains fall over the window and darkness filled the room. She could only see slightly but still managed to find what she needed. “I’m going to take a quick shower, then you can. I’d let you go first but, well...what’s your condition? Are you bleeding?”

He looked himself over as her eyes began to adjust to his own bright light. “I seem to be fine, no open wounds. You can shower first, but wouldn’t it be better for you to take a bath? It would be bad if you slipped and fell,” he said touching her shoulder again. What was with him and touching her shoulder?

“Hmm, that’s a good point except that I’ve been showering in my condition for a good 14 years. I think I’ll be perfectly alright,” she smiled and patted his hand lightly. She passed him and went off to shower and become nice and clean. She showered as quickly as she could and was out in no time, but that didn’t stop her from singing like she usually did in the shower. Her normally feathery hair was now weighed down with water and stuck to her. She had put on just a bath robe, not needing any other garments. She hadn’t realized he was standing right in front of the door waiting for her so she bumped into him. His back was to her, and her head only really reached a little above his waist. She fell back a few steps and he grabbed her, afraid she’d fall.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly letting her go once she had her balance. “I heard you singing and well, I couldn’t help but listen closely. You sing like an angel, and that’s no exaggeration. Who taught you to sing like that/” She blushed slightly and shook it off, ignoring his question. It was bright out, so she couldn’t really make him out anymore, though she could tell he was smiling by the sound of his voice.

Ignoring what he said now she said, “Well you’ll need help with your bandages so I’ll get the stuff needed and wait in my room, okay?”

“No problem,” he was still smiling and she walked off to Davied’s room to get what she needed. He showered slowly and she waited patiently for him, hoping he was alright. “Angelo,” he called from the bathroom. “Angelo can you come here please?”

“What’s wrong,” she answered while walking towards the bathroom. He opened the door but she couldn’t tell what was wrong.

“I don’t have any extra clothes to wear,” he sounded so innocent when he said it, Angelo laughed. “Why are you laughing at me,” he had a mock frown on his face and his voice was a fake whine.

She laughed more, “You’re funny. I’m sure my brother wouldn’t mind you picking through his closet. His room’s just there.” She pointed down the hall and stepped out of his way so he could find what he needed. “I’ll be waiting in my room, just bring the clothes in and I’ll get you patched back up, okay?”

“Alright,” he said chuckling at his own silliness. He made quick word of finding something to wear and was in her room shortly. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and clothes in his hand as he entered. She smiled at him and told him to sit down and let her check him out.

“Well, you seem to be a fast healer! How long were you hurt for? Well it doesn’t matter who hurt you, or how long its been. What’s important is that you’re getting better! Right,” she said while wrapping him up where he needed to be. He nodded and smiled at her in response. “So,” she began as she finished her work, “where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking, and what happened to you? ”He groaned a little as if she were pulling his arm behind his back to get an answer out of him. “I’m not entirely sure you’d believe me...” was his answer.

Angelo made a face and was unsure of why he said that, but she waved at the air as if to push away the questions she asked. “Alright, you don’t have to answer my questions. I’m sorry I asked, are you hungry? I’m sure you can answer that question,” she laughed at her bad joke and to her surprise, so did he.

“Yes, I’m very hungry. I suppose we’ll go make breakfast now? Or would it be brunch? What time is it,” he looked around and not a clock in sight. “Why don’t you have a clock in your...oh yeah. You’re blind, I forgot...” he looked a bit embarrassed but she just smiled.

“I’m a strange kind of blind, but I wouldn’t be able to see a clock no matter what,” she said matter of factly. Then she picked herself up and began to exit the room, “Aren’t you coming?” He stood slowly and followed her out of the room and down to the kitchen where he made them something to eat. They finished the super omelet he made with sausage, cheese, ham, bacon, mushrooms, and of course egg in it. “Wow, you are a great cook! I wish Davied could cook like you! I wish I could cook...oh well! Man...that really weighs you down doesn’t it,” she said yawning and putting a hand in front of her mouth. It must have been contagious because she heard Luce doing the same.

“Why not take a nap? Last night must have been hard for you. I’m not that light,” he sounded embarrassed again. She shrugged, “How are you blind but not?”

She was expecting that question but didn’t answer right away. She stood up from the kitchen table and stretched, yawning again. She walked back to the living room, beckon him to sit in her favorite comfy chair and said, “You know how there are inferred cameras?” He nodded and then said ‘yes’ to make sure she knew. “Well my vision is somewhat like that. Only I can see the light of souls, not heat.” She couldn’t tell if he was confused or not. She stepped up to him and out stretched her hand, he took it and led her to sit on his lap. She felt his face and he was smiling, she looked at him in a puzzled manor. “Why are you smiling? Aren’t you confused by what I said?”

“Of course I am,” he chuckled. “But your innocence has crushed my confusion and now I’m just smiling. Does that make sense?”

“Not really but I’ll go on anyway,” she said keeping a hand on his face to see if he was understanding or not. “Every living thing has a soul and every living thing has a different colored soul. Grass is green, trees are sometimes greenish brown, animals are brown, people are a light yellow, and yours is white. I’m not sure why yours is white, or why is shines so bright. I can tell when something will die by the dimness of it’s light or something to that effect. Yours seems infinite! It baffles me, truly it does! But it’s ok that I don’t know everything. Now do you have any other questions?”

His face hadn’t changed from a smile and she wasn’t sure why, but he seemed to understand her special ability. “Well, I guess you can only see the light of a soul in darkness. Hmm, well I suppose my next question is why are you so small? Aren’t you like...20?”She smiled sadly and looked at him, not in the eye like before though. “When my pelvis was shattered they had to fix it with metal. Metal can’t grow with a body so they gave me anti-growth serum. When I hit 14 though my body was trying to remember that it had to try and grow so I started to develop breasts. They gave me another few doses of that serum and I won’t need it again. I’ve stayed this way for so long...I’m surprised I haven’t gone crazy,” she let out a sad chuckle as if wishing she would go crazy. Her robe had slipped slightly from her shoulder and a deep scar was revealed.

“How’d this happen,” he asked touching the scar. She jumped off his lap and pulled the robe up quickly looking terrified as she did so. He was surprised at her actions and put his hands up in a defensive way saying, “Easy now. I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m sorry I asked okay? Just come back here, I’m sorry.” He watched her as her eyes looked at nothing and she sat back down on him.

“I’m sorry...I’m just kind of, well, iffy, I’ll use for lack of a better word, about my scars. I can be so childish sometimes,” she looked embarrassed, then it hit him.

“You have more then that,” he asked in surprise. She clapped her hand over her mouth as if she’d just admitted to a crime. “Never mind! Forget I asked! I said nothing! Nothing at all, okay? Please don’t look so sad.” He pulled her hand away from her face and put it to his, it was scrunched into a sad face. “Can’t you tell I’m sorry? Hmmm?” She smiled a little and took her hand back, he had touched more scars on her wrist. She could tell he was sorry, so she gave him a hug as an “apology excepted.”

“How about we take that nap now,” she said in childish tone of voice. He nodded and got comfortable with her on him. She was so small and light it didn’t even feel like she was there at all.