Angels and Misfits

Chapter 2

Alex

She was pathetic. How could something with such raw power possibly be so…

She looked like a wet rag. Wretched. Plus, she smelled like manure. To be fair, that may have been the air. The entire town smelled like the inside of a cow’s rear. Up close she had a hint of something cleaner about her, but it was hard to tell.

He watched her carefully ride off on her horse, keeping a wary eye on him until she thought she was far enough from him. Little did she know that distance would take him merely seconds to cross with his wings. He could end her life just as quick—with the blade he gave her. 

Something about Nora just plain bothered him. His father told him she had the power to bring the world to ruins, but just watching her, she looked more like the world was ruining her. 

Truthfully, he didn’t see why he needed to come down to Earth. If the people of the town didn’t kill her, she would sooner starve to death. Catch a disease.

She was riding in the rain. She could catch pneumonia and die.

She was strong, but she looked and acted incredibly weak. Despite all that she had flowing through her veins, she looked closer to the edge of death. A mere mortal.

The other angels in the legion suspect her father may be Lucifer, but no one has seen him in over a century. Besides, those silver eyes…Lucifer didn’t have those. His were more of a dark brown—even after the fall. Whoever her father was, he may or may not be even more powerful, but Alex had a feeling Nora was the one to watch. Not because she was more powerful, but because of that potential. For him, it was a matter of whether or not she would use it for good or bad. If she didn’t let the weight of the world bring her down first.

Still, he was sent for a reason. She had to be dealt with. Heaven wanted her dead. They didn’t say how fast he had to do it, and, he wanted to wait until she showed her true strength. Then, he would do it. End the Nephilim’s life. With the knife he just gave her. How cruel it would be for her, to be in possession of the very thing that he would use to kill her in the end.

She hadn’t committed any sins in her life, hadn’t hurt anyone. She did as her mother told her to, and acted as though she just wanted to be left alone.

She said as much when he finally spoke to her.

It was only a matter of time before little Nora turned on a human, though.

Having the ability to read minds had always come easy to him. Not surprisingly, hers was a tangled, complicated mess. He couldn’t make heads or tails where each thought ended or began. It was as though Nora’s mind was impervious to his gift. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Underneath all that dirt, the pathetic muck of the world, she truly was innocent. She was understated.

Nora was inexplicable.

His fingers twitched in two warring directions. One, to retrieve his Heavenly blade and slice her throat. Eliminating the threat Heaven was so afraid of. But the other, the one he fought even harder against, was the need to feel how soft her skin was. How cold she felt in the rain she brought on in the middle of summer. She caused a storm that would probably bring a flood, even if it was unintentional.

How could anyone want to hate such a person? She was helpless. She looked as though she barely ate.

Warring sides. His general discomfort with her unbridled abilities, and his pity for the poor thing. 

In all his years—242 to be exact—he had never taken an interest in anything other than demons. They were running rampant across this “new” land. Making deals with unsuspecting humans, terrorizing small towns, even spreading illness among the people.

Nora was a distraction, and one that he wasn’t sure was a good one. She could possibly hurt many people, or fall into a darkness that made even demons appear saint-like.

“Nora Jameson,” his eyes narrowed on her retreating form in the darkness and rain, “you’d better watch your back.”

***

A few weeks later…

Nora ate about every three days. She made sure to feed and water the horses at each stop along the way, though. She ignored the stares, disregarded all remarks—both snide and…otherwise. She may not be daunting highly fashionable dresses and her hair was matted, but even the drunks didn’t care she wasn’t a debutante. They still called out for her to join them in their rooms. In the rooms above the saloons. In the stalls.

Wherever was near, really.

It was sickening.

Eyes followed her wherever she went, and yet she paid them no mind. At least, she did her best. He watched her release a deep breath each time she got away. A silent prayer to her mother each time. Sometimes cursing her for dying, other times thanking her mother for watching her. 

Once, asking if she had a guardian angel.

He maintained a distance all the while, ensuring she never saw him. He wasn’t sure if she was really tuned into her senses—if she had any. She didn’t look around much when out on the road, didn’t seem on guard once alone.

She wouldn’t even realize she was being hunted. If she were, she wouldn’t even know an arrow was pointed her direction until it was too late.

Aside from her habit of being oblivious to the predator stalking her, Nora was lost. She had no clue where she was going.

All those untapped abilities, she was leading the horses in circles. By the fourth round through the same valley, she realized it. 

Nincompoop, he thought to himself. Had her mother done everything for her?

While she, no doubt, circled back through the same trail that would lead her back to this same valley, he had an idea.

When she was far enough down the same trail, he piled rocks in order. Into a symbol she would know, to deter her from making the same mistake for an eternity.

He waited above the trees, high enough she wouldn’t see or hear him easily. When she rounded that same corner of the trail, the horses came to an abrupt stop at her pull of the reigns.

She knew the sign.

It was enough to scare her into the opposite direction.

She’d been accused enough of being a witch or devil’s child, she knew the symbol for the wood witches in the East. They stayed mostly hidden, but Nora absolutely knew what their calling was. 

Her head shot from side to side, her eyes and mouth open wide.

Nora was afraid.

She clicked her tongue and turned them around, heading into the direction she should have taken hours earlier.

Only one vampire found her on the journey, but Alex made sure to eliminate the threat before the “abomination” was snuffed out by none other than a vampire.

She didn’t even hear him struggle when Alex ripped his head clean off.

A few days of her wandering, she found a river and followed it up, rather than downstream. Civilization was down the river, but even if she knew it, she was moving further from the very thing. 

Two days moving up, frequent stops for the horses to drink or eat, she found something. A place. Maybe.  

She camped out for several days before deciding to head inside the house. It was merely a small wood cabin. The place looked abandoned, no one had been around for a while.

After she finally let herself inside, Alex found the owner. Another vampire fed on the old man and left his body in the woods for the animals to finish off. The rotten flesh was sickening, but what was worse, was that Nora had planted herself in a vampire’s hunting grounds. Dead animals, a few people, all their bodies lay in the same area with the blood drained from their bodies.

By the time he blessed the body, buried the man, and cleaned himself up, the vampire had already noticed his new prey. 

The cabin was built between two high walls of rock and trees. The river ran right in front of it. The appeal was there. Whoever lived there could catch fish to eat, gather water for whatever they needed, and they were hidden well enough.

It was also the perfect place to turn up missing and not be found.

Hence, the dead man he just buried.

Alex stood on the Southern high wall, while the vampire stalked the girl tying up her horses from the Northern end. The vampire’s fangs were drawn as he watched her. Studied her. 

And still, Nora was oblivious to the certain death watching her, while licking his lips.

He had long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a look that he couldn’t wait to play with his food before devouring her whole.

The creature’s eyes moved up and caught Alex. Tilting his head, his blue eyes darted between Nora and Alex.

Two horses, one girl.

It didn’t make sense if she were alone.

Alex didn’t even blink, hoping he gave up. But what would a vampire be if they gave up so easily on a food source, especially one that smelled the way Nora’s blood did underneath all the other smells.

The front door to the cabin closed, and it was a race.

The vampire darted down toward the house, running faster than most could see.

Alex leapt off the top of the hill, wings spread, and crashed into the vampire before he made it close to the house. They hit a tree hard, but Alex made sure not to hit it so hard Nora would notice. 

The vampire pushed off from Alex, holding his hands up. His eyes glued to Alex’s wings still out. “What—”

“You have five seconds to leave and never come back, or die,” Alex seethed.

“What are you—”

“Five.”

“I’m not—”

“Four.”

The vampire pointed a finger in his face. “You don’t scare me, demon—”

Alex smiled, “one.”

The vampire turned to run, but Alex grabbed him before he took his first step. His hands lit up against the vampire’s skin, burning into his soul. He attempted to scream, but his lungs collapsed before he got anything out.

This leech was going to eat Nora without realizing what she was. Or worse. He would try to change her and keep her as his mate. 

Honestly, she would be better off dead.

It’s body withered, but he searched it’s thoughts. Sure enough, he saw female and thought about having her as his own. 

He was alone out here.

Good.

Alex finished him off and checked to make sure Nora hadn’t left the house. The coast was clear, so he dragged the body with him, and burned it until there was nothing left.

When he returned to watch Nora, she had come out and was settling the horses in the small structure that looked like it was meant to hold a horse or two. It wasn’t a barn at all. If a mountain lion found them, it wouldn’t be hard to get in.

She may be alone, but she wasn’t going to make this new life easy on herself.

And since she still hadn’t done anything wrong, he couldn’t justify killing her. He needed to keep watch and make sure she wasn’t setting up to…who knows? Plot the destruction of Earth?

He just needed to make sure.