Becoming Chaos

IV - Ebbing Tides

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?” I exploded. The towel in my hand fell to the wooden floor. My eyes widened and my heart banged. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but my mouth was dry. Already, I could feel a persistent urge to claw at him with my fingers. I wanted to tear him apart.

But I didn’t.

I stood there, eyes wide and mouth gaping open like an i***t. Calm down, Kaylene. Breathe. I tried to pace my breathing, but ended up hyperventilating instead. In front of me, Michael stood like an Angel statue, cold-faced and motionless.

“I’m sorry,” Michael apologized. He placed a hand on his face and shook his head. His fingers then found his hair and pulled at them, tousling his dark locks. After a few breaths, his posture eased. “I made a mistake. I lost track of time,” he shook his head again. “Stupid of me, I know. My bad,” he said as he fished something out of his pocket.

Wow. Mr Perfect said he's stupid. Pigs are flying. “That is all I get? You are sorry?” I roared. For a lingering moment, I thought that none of what happened to me was his fault, but he was there and I needed someone to blame. Selfish, I know.

"Are you texting? For the love of Heaven, Michael!”

He pocketed the flip phone that was in his spare hand. I shook my head, surprised that the emissaries of Heaven had phones. Imagine the Guardian Angels sending selfies. He started forward. “Get over it, K,” he said as he walked away, his back unto me. The blades of his shoulders moved as he shrugged. “Come, on. We don’t have enough time. Trust me, you don’t want your first turning to happen in a crowded city,” he said. The apartment that I rented was small, in a few short steps, Michael was already at the door.

Looking around, I grabbed the first thing that I saw.

“A toothbrush, really, K?” he said as he spun on his heels and caught the pink Oral-B that I threw at him with his hand not holding the flashlight-feather. I was beginning to think he had eyes somewhere behind his head. I couldn’t hit him even if he wasn’t looking. “Again, K, I’m sorry if I was wrong, but there is nothing we could do about it anymore. Don’t be mad at me because I made a mistake.”

“I am not mad at you because you made a damn mistake!” I said, forcing the words out of my mouth. My head spun with wild thoughts as a nervous anxiety gripped at me. The tips of my toes went numb. My legs shook and I focused all my efforts into not falling down. Already, I could feel my heartbeat becoming erratic. My blood pumped in waves so uneven that I heard ringing in my ears. “I.. I..” I'm mad at you because you gave me false hope.

“You what? Tell me. Are you okay?”

Am I okay? That was the last straw. Everything that held me together in one piece vanished. All my bearings crumbled like a sand castle hit by the ocean wave. I fell down on my knees to the ground, shaking.

“Oh, please. Tell me you are not crying,” said Michael, sounding a little alarmed.

Burying my face in my hands, I went into a fit of uncontrollable sobbing. Horrible sounds escaped me as I choked on my own tears. The weight of the last twenty four hours dropped on my shoulders like lead bars and crushed me in an instant. I tried everything that I could to push back the tears as I am not a fan of crying in front of strangers. I was not a fan of crying at all as I thought that it was overrated. My ragged breathing worsened. It was as though my lungs would explode anytime. Get a hold of yourself, Summers.

I didn’t hear him walk, but all of a sudden, Michael was beside me. He dropped down next to me and sat still. For a moment, I thought he was going to make a joke out of everything that was happening or comment on how I was such a drama queen. He didn’t. Instead, he inched closer to me. He was close, but not too much. Our shoulders didn’t even touch. He was just so near that I could feel his heat. After a few attempts, I managed to ease my sobs. Turning my head sideways, I looked at him.

Michael looked right back at me. His hazel eyes were like rain forests in their fullness. Woody brown with bright green and just the right amount of gold specks. He was seated just in front of the bathroom door. The light pouring from the golden feather in his hand rained a radiant glow on him. It made him look like he was shining. He probably was. He’s blessed by the Angels. His pee could even be glow-in-the-dark for all I know.

I sniveled. “What?” I asked, sounding nasal. “Aren’t you going to make a smart remark?”

He made a small smile, showing a shallow dent on his left cheek. “No,” he answered with a gentle shake of his head. I half-expected gold sparks to fall from his hair. Nothing came out, though. “Are you feeling better?”

Who are you? I looked at him. My eyes widened in disbelief as though his face turned green. My heart skipped a beat as I thought that at that exact moment, he was vulnerable. All of a sudden, he was what he claimed to be - an Angel. Quiet. Peaceful. Serene. I hated him. A sharp exhale came out of my nostrils. I spoke, but I didn’t answer his question. “W-what do we do now?” I asked, my voice breaking here and there.

He stood up in one graceful movement and towered over me. From where I slumped on the floor, he looked like a giant. Images of the gigantic abominations that he told me about floated at the back of my mind. “We need to get away from the city,” he declared, offering his hand to lift me up.

I hesitated for the slightest of moments, but I took it. He lifted me to my feet as though I weighed no more than a child. “Why?” I asked as I wiped the last of the tears that rolled down my face away.

“Trust me on this one,” he declared, his eyes still locked with mine. “The first full moon for a wolf is ugly. Very ugly. We have to find a spot where there are no humans in at least a mile radius.”

I did not need to ask why as I have seen enough movies about werewolves; I didn't know if they were accurate, especially the gory stuff, but I had no desire to find out. “Okay,” I breathed. The magnitude of everything going on still shook me to my core despite the fact that I have seen a boy sprout wings in front of me. “Where shall we go then?”

“The nearest woods is Forest Park in Queens, just half an hour away,” he said as he blinked and averted his eyes. “Though I doubt that it’ll be clear of humans by the time the moon rises.”

I tried to think of alternatives, but my mind was not cooperating. My thoughts kept circling back to the images of Vladimir’s changing face. In a flash, I remembered my dream. Images of glowing yellow eyes staring right at me and disappearing in a blink only to reappear as a massive beast of fur and teeth and claws flashed inside my head. I shivered.

“North Brother Island,” Michael said, breaking me out of my reverie. “We could go to North Brother Island.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” I asked. “The Island is closed to the public. It’s uninhabited.”

“Yes,” he grinned, showing his perfect white teeth. “Which makes it ideal. There’s no one there. Just birds.”

“I am not sure about that,” I said. “ I don’t want to get caught by the cops. I’m certain that going to the North Brother Island violates State laws.”

“Cops should be the least of your worries,” he replied. “The Ministry will hunt you down if you ever kill or harm a regular during your transformation.”

“You keep saying ‘The Ministry’ this, ‘The Ministry’ that. What the hell even is ‘The Ministry?’”

Michael’s lips thinned out to a line. “I told you, no swearing in front of a Soul Dealer!”

Smart-ass Michael was back. Despite everything, I smiled and cursed with utmost fluency. Chin up. Yeah. What are you gonna do about it Angel boy?

My smile turned into a frown as he didn’t seem as bothered as I thought he would be. Riverwoods just sighed and shrugged. “The Soul Ministry is the governing body of the Soul Dealers. Like a central government. They oversee the affairs of the Other Worlds and mediate with all their affairs.”

“Where are they right now? Why aren’t they helping us with this Vladimir thing?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “The Ministry is everywhere. There is one Sanctum per state or city,” he answered. “I am from the New York Sanctum and I am your ‘help’,” he said. “They sent me, well, not sent. I am assigned here along with others. I was doing my rounds when I spotted Vladimir with you in that fated alley,” he combed his hair with his fingers and shrugged. “Anyway, that’s enough Soul Dealer business for today. Back to you. Grab your bag and --” he stopped talking all of a sudden. His eyes darted around, his body on high alert like a lion sensing prey.

“What’s happening?” I asked. My heart went and played a game of hopscotch inside my chest. “Is Vladimir here?”

“Hush,” he said and looked at me. His eyes turned golden. “Get your things, we’re leaving,” he whispered.

No one disobeys a guy who sprouts wings and changes eye color at will. I hurried to the side of the bed where my duffel bag full of stuff was and picked it up. I slung it over my shoulders and half-ran to Michael. “What is happening?” I asked him again. The loud beating of my heart reached my ears. The air inside my apartment was cold, but I felt beads of sweat appear on my face.

“Let’s go,” he said, clenching his jaw. “Keep it low, K. Someone’s here.”

Nodding, I followed him as he exited the door of my apartment. I closed it shut after me. “Who’s here?”

Michael shot me a dark look as he placed a finger over his lips in a gesture to silence me. He then pointed his fingers upward.

Silence.

I looked up, expecting to see Vladimir or some other monster going 'Exorcist' on the ceiling. There was no one. Straining my ears, I realized he meant that there was someone on the roof. I concentrated hard, like I did the first time I jumped at Michael in his own apartment. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I closed my eyes and listened. At first, there was nothing, then I heard it. A silent rhythm of footsteps. Left, right, halt. Right, left, halt. Left, right, another right? How many were there? I opened my eyes and looked at Michael. “Five,” I mouthed to him. There were five freaking pairs of footsteps on the roof.

He nodded in agreement. The gray wallpaper on the walls looked gold under the light of the blazing feather in Michael’s hand. He inched closer to my ear. “Is there another way out of the building?” he whispered.

“Fire exit,” I whispered back, pointing to the other end of the hall. “There.”

“Come on,” he muttered under his breath. Michael took me by the wrist and dragged me along with him. He turned the knob of the fire exit door and pushed it open.

I froze when I saw it.

A huge-ass gray wolf stood on all fours on top of the landing of the metal ladder. Its teeth were bared and a low growl came from its throat, slobber dripping.

I screamed.

“Run, Summers!” Michael shouted as the werewolf lunged for his throat

I did. When a Soul Dealer tells you to run, you run, no matter how annoying he might be.