*Shadow*
I can see the darkening of the sky, and I feel my heart beating out of my chest. The pain of the ropes digging into my skin causes tears to find their way to my eyes. A door opens and I whip me head toward the light leaking through. There stands the man who has taken me, and I shrink down in my seat as much as my bonding allows me. He walks toward me, a sharp piece of metal swinging in his arms.
“You really think she’s going to come save you?” his voice is vicious and his eyes sparkle with rage. “Yes, I do believe that she will come to save me. Why would she not?” I hear the voice as it echoes inside my head, and it is so very odd. I know where I am, yet I cannot get the strange feeling of being here out of my thoughts.
James moves toward me, and sticks out his hand, striking it across my face. My head snaps to the side, and I cry out in pain. He lets out an evil laugh, and strikes again. Just then, an alarm sounds, and he jumps slightly with surprise. He looks down to his watch, and an eerie smile spreads across his disgusting face. He walks away from me, and I let out a sob.
After that, I end up back in my own body. I am making my way to the school, and I can feel the giddy feeling in my stomach. My heart beats rapidly, and I can feel the sweat trickle down my back. Once I get to the school, I see a figure in the shadows. “Hello beautiful.” Says the same sickly sweet voice that has haunted all my nightmares for the last ten years of my life. I stand in a pool of light, and I can tell that my hair appears to be shimmering. “Hello James. You seem to be older than I remember.” He lets out a laugh, and I can tell that I am going to be sick. “We cannot all be like you, my dear.”
He makes me sick, and he completely repulses me. I place my hand on my stomach, hoping to settle the uneasy feeling. I know that he has done harm to Lilac, and I will not let him get away with hurting my earth bound Angel.”Come to save the little girl? Scared that I was going to hurt her?” I take a step toward him, and out of the light. I feel my steps, and it seems as though I am walking on air. His features begin to appear, and I get satisfaction from the surprised expression that is there.
“You really haven’t aged a day since I last say you. How did you do it? What is your secret?” I continue walking toward him, and he takes a step back. I let out a laugh, but it soon becomes strangled when his eyes gain that evil glint like they used to have. His gaze travels to behind me, and I turn around to find Theo standing in the pool of light. “What are you doing here? I told you I needed to come alone!” I scream at him, allowing my frustration burn though me, in the hopes of using it to save Lilac. “I needed to help save her. I cannot let her die. I promised.”
His voice cracks and I close my eyes for a second. James lets out a sharp and wicked laugh. When I turn to look at him, I see the glint of a silver gun in his hand, and it is held up, pointed at Theo. “Looks like I get to kill your boyfriend, your little friend, and you all in one night. How perfect could that be?” he chuckles again and moves toward me. The panic becomes unbearable, and I begin to hyperventilate. My knees begin to give out on me, and I crumble to the ground.
James moves to my side faster than Theo can, and he grips onto my hair, pulling me up by the long strands. He puts the barrel of the gun against my temple, and Theo lets out a strangled gasp as he looks at the scene. “Come with me, and I promise I won’t hurt her yet.” He starts tugging me toward the school, and pushes a door open. He throws me to the ground inside a room, and I hear Lilac let out a shrill scream.
“Shadow, are you okay? Please tell me that you are not hurt.” The way she is panicking, you would think that I was the one tied up. “I am fine. Are you okay? Does your face sting from where he hit you?” I ask without thinking, and James glares at me. “How did you know that I hit her?” he demands, his voice shrill with rage. I roll onto my side, and glance up at him, but am blinded when he flicks on a light. “Because I was with her. I could see, hear, and feel everything that she felt. You lied to me James. You said that you wouldn’t hurt her if I came.”
He laughs again, and I glare at him, but that only gets me a kick in the ribs. I cough and sputter, trying to regain my lost breath. “Don’t kid around with me. How did you know?” I am able to get out enough words to create a sentence. “I was with her. I am an Angel, and I can become one with her.” I let the words fill the air, and he snarls with anger at me. He turns the gun toward Theo, who has moved to stand beside Lilac, and has accomplished untying her. James fires, and in a flash of blonde hair, and a high pitched scream, I feel my soul split in two. When all has stopped, I am left with the destroyed feeling one gets when their loved one has just died. On the floor at Theo’s feet lays Lilac, her perfect hair covering her sweet, innocent face. My earth bound Angel has been set free and now will reside with God, and I know that she will follow all his rules, and find pure joy and happiness with her mother.
I weep, and I cannot stop the pain that leaks from my very essence. No one moves, and when the light dies, and we are left in darkness, I hear the sobs coming from Theo, and the ghostly silence from James. I open my eyes when I hear them both gasp, and I look into the beautiful glow of Heaven bound Angels. In the magnificent glow, stands my wonderful flower, and she reaches for me. “Now is your chance, Shadow. You have to make a choice. Set me free, and send me home, but lose Theo. Or, save me, and lose your heart. God has given you this chance, and given you this choice. Now tell me, what do you choose?”
