Ethereal

Chapter 12

That morning, my eyes opened not even a second before I heard a quick knock on my front door. I didn't need to answer it to know it was the angels, it was like I could feel it in my bones. 

I had fallen asleep in my clothes from the day previously, so as I got up and headed to the front door, I quickly took off my shirt and grabbed another one in a different colour to wear, so I would at least appear to not be a complete mess. I wondered fleetingly if they'd somehow be able to sense that I had been wearing these clothes now for a full twenty-four hours. 

"Hey!" I smiled at them as I flung the door open, the three of them stood before me with various expressions of their own: Travis was looking down at his feet in annoyance, Noah was beaming down at me, and Jasmine had a mysterious glint in her eye accompanied by a smile so beaming I thought it might knock me over. 

I let out a shaky breath as I moved out of the way to let them in, inviting three angels into my home. It must seem so shabby to them, suddenly I was aware of just how dirty everything must look to them, surely they were used to bright white in every direction? 

Jasmine practically skipped inside, and wouldn't seem to stay still, Noah and Travis however immediately settled down on the sofa. 

"What's up with you today?" I asked her, as she skittered around in a way that vaguely reminded me of a bunny rabbit. 

She smiled brightly at me again. "I have a good feeling about today. I sense that our quest is almost over." 

Suddenly I was having to forcibly keep the smile on my face. "Oh?" I asked, "Did it go well with Macey then?" 

"No." Travis groaned. "There is absolutely nothing special about her, unless you count being exceptionally boring. She even tried to kiss me afterwards." He pulled a face of disgust, and I noticed a flicker of a smile from Jasmine. 

The smile still plastered onto my face, I asked "So who are we checking out today?". I noticed Noah frowning at me, could he see past my pretence? I had only just discovered who they really were, and so soon they would be taken away from me. Already I could feel a weight pressing down on my chest, making it a little harder to breathe. 

"Charlie first." Jasmine said, nodding to herself. "Since you have work with him today, and then afterwards we'll go check out Jonathan and Macey again." I couldn't remember telling her that my shift today was with Charlie, it made me shiver involuntarily at the reminder of what she was, she could do extraordinary things that I probably couldn't even imagine. "What time is your shift?" 

"Um," I checked the clock on the wall. "I should probably leave in about an hour." 

She nodded, but before she could speak again Noah stood up. "Emilia, would you like to go for a quick walk before your shift?" 

I could feel the butterflies fluttering once more in my stomach, making it easy to ignore Jasmine's look of disapproval. I didn't care, it's not like I wasn't safe alone with him. "Okay." I smiled, genuinely, this time.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, but said nothing as Noah headed towards the door and held it open for me. 

Self-consciously I patted down my hair, hoping it wasn't looking too much like bed-head, but I couldn't be sure. 

He led me behind the house, down into the woods where a stream ran through, if you were quiet it was the only thing you could hear, given we were no longer close to the road. 

I used to come down here with my mum, back when I was younger. I used to enjoy paddling in the shallow water, we used to walk as far as we could go, until it began to deepen and the water level was almost at the top of my wellies but not quite. Sometimes we would keep walking alongside the running water, eventually it led to Entilin Lake, that used to be my favourite place to go as a kid.