Hedgesville, West Virginia
Caspian Residence
Monday, August 12, 1996
7:56 PM

Sketching in a notebook, Jennie sat in her window and peered at the face she was drawing. Brooding eyes stared back at her from the paper as she tapped the point of the pencil against the forehead of the character . She chuckled to herself and smiled while a light blush formed on her cheeks.
“Reiyl,” she said as she dropped the book to the floor.
“So you go for guys who are pretty dull, huh?”
“Do what?” Jennie’s head turned swiftly to gaze out the window. A pair of encouraging brown eyes stared back at her from the tree branch. A chill ran down her spine as she recognized the person. “You came back?”
“Yep,” the boy replied as he leaned against the trunk of the tree. “And I‘m really amazed that you could jab out my eye like that. And here I thought you were this cute, little kid. Guess I was wrong.”
“Go to hell!” she shouted.
Abruptly the man sat upright and placed a single finger to his lips. The corners of his mouth turned into a smile while the long strands of his fringe fell into his eyes. A look of annoyanced passed over Jennie.
“Are you trying to tell me to be quiet?!”
“I don‘t need Rem coming in here,” he said. “I deal with him enough at school.”
“What about what you said earlier,” she remarked bitterly through a hiss, “you said you were going to kill me.”
“I said you would die,” the man replied as he leaned his head back. “Doesn‘t mean I have to do it.” He laughed to himself then looked to the ground. “It’s a nice night, isn’t it? I could just sleep out here.”
Jennie squinted her eyes as she gazed out at the lanky man who was perched on the branch. Her eyes widened in awe at the sight of large, yellowish wings that extended from his back and hung toward the ground. “You have angel wings?”
“Hardly,” he replied. “I’m an Hawaiian Io, so in my human form I can have wings. Kind of like that cat demon can have cat ears and a tail. Call it our bipedal form.”
“Oh,” she whispered. This is too damn weird for me…
“You’ll get use to it eventually,” he said casually. “It takes humans time to adjust.”
“Why are you just sitting there?” she asked abruptly. “Aren’t you suppose to be hunting me down? Killing me?”
“That’s a good question,” he said as he yawned and stretched his arms into the air. “I have no answer for that.”
“You killed my parents?” she questioned.
Leaning forward suddenly while feathers scattered into the air, the man gazed at Jennie with disbelief. “No way!” he shouted. “There‘s no way I could just kill an innocent..”
“You want to hurt me!” she shouted, looking away from him. “You’re contradicting yourself!”
“Nah, bra!” he shouted back while standing up on the branch. The large, feathery appendages on his back shattered, sending feathers flying in various different. “You‘re holding me back! And with you gone, I can be free soar the thermals…”
She stared at him blankly, unsure with what he was really saying. Jennie shook her head.
“And why can’t you just free yourself?“ she asked, “Are you that much a loser that you have to kill a girl? You’re a dork. Plain and simple.”
“What?” he asked, stepping across the branch slowing while glaring at her narrowed eyes. His whole body appeared to be tense. “What did you call me?”
“You‘re angry over me calling you a dork?” she asked, sighing. “You are lame. Why don’t you go home to your buddies and leave me alone.”
Before she could even get the chance to close the window, rough hands grabbed at her shoulders as a heavy weight was thrown against her body. She felt herself being pinned to the ground as the boy’s face was near her own and she could feel his breath against her skin.
“It’s not about name calling,” he said in a low voice,”it’s about respect.”
“Get off me!” she shouted, slamming the palm of her hand against his face and trying desperately to push him away.
Seizing her hands forcefully in his own, the man pressed them to the ground before restraining her legs with his. “Now,” he growled, “stop fighting me and just listen or else I’ll have to hurt you…”
“You‘ve already proved you can‘t,” she mumbled, staring him directly in the eyes.
Silence filled the room as she felt him push off her and stood up. He shook his head and placed a hand to his forehead while cracking a smile.
“You‘re right,” he said with a laugh. He looked down at her while holding out his hand to her to help her up. “I am lame like you said. I complete moron. I was trained my whole life to be a killer. To assassinate a certain girl. But when I meet her…”
“Nahele?” she questioned as he pulled her to her feet. “That is your name, right? Can‘t you just leave?”
“Not that easy, bra,” he whispered, staring down at her hand in his. “I would have to deal with a lot of shit from my teammates. Maybe even be killed by them.”
“Then stay away from them,” Jennie said with hopeful eyes. “I have a group.”
Nahele cocked his head to the side and smirked. “Since when did you have a group?” he asked.
“Haven‘t you heard,” Jennie said as she snatched her hand away from him while placing both her hands to her hips. “I‘m the Seraph and I have the Scions on my side.”
Nahele brought a fist to his mouth in order to hold back a laugh then chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I heard about that,” he said, “but did you hear that I was also a Scion?”
“What?” she asked. “You are?”
“When you’re born from one, you are one,” he replied, “how about that. Unfortunately, I have obligations. Kind of happens when you‘re part of Sanction.” Turning away from her, he headed to the window.
“But …” Jennie watched Nahele fall backward out the window.
“Wait!” She rushed to the window and peered out, but saw nothing more than the hawk flying off. “So he‘s a Scion, too. But also Sanction…I don‘t get it.”