The face of an Angel

Chapter 4

Mike Grayhold had been following Harley Wood's scent all night. Harley's scent was alien to Mike's nostrils, although Mike had never known - or seen - Harley, his scent could only be compared to that girl in his English class - Aoife? But that's impossible, she's the last angel, there must be some sort of mistake...

Mike tirelessly roamed the desolate streets of London, following Harley's trail. He had no idea who Harley was, but he would search for him until he found him. If he returned to the Guardian without Harley, he'd either be killed on the spot, or forced to spend his remaining days in his wolf form.

Sure, that sounds all fine and dandy, but have you ever walked in a were-wolf's shoes? No. Your sensitive - often wet - nose had a heightened sense of smell so your brain was constantly trying to untangle all of the scents that always bombarded you. Your eyes were sensitive to light and everything was too bright during the day. You were constantly on guard because, since you were used to your flimsy human ears, all of the sounds seemed much closer than they actually were, and you picked up sounds humans would never be able to hear, like the sound of an underground stream wooshing, as if you'd be taken away with it. Every shadow seemed like the Guardian, as if he was stalking you to see that you don't abort your mission.

Mike snapped back to himself. He had to stop worrying, he had to continue his mission. He prowled the streets for hours on end, until, finally, he'd found an apartment, stinking of Harley. He howled with victory, the only sound in the overwhelming silence of the city. It was the signal the Guardian had told him to use.

•

He'd followed Mike all around the city. He'd almost been caught a couple of times - being invisible doesn't mean he didn't cast a shadow. As soon as the howl left Mike's lips, the Guardian apparated. He knew this freaked people out, that's why he did it. Mike jumped and let out a whimper. The Guardian could tell Mike was terrified by him.

The Guardian started laughing at himself, have you seen how powerful I am? He thought.

His laughter, however, was cut short when he realised who's apartment he was outside of. He let out an inhuman growl. So, they knew each other. This would be fun.

He searched the apartment, they were definitely gone. For now. He knew they'd return. He knew Aoife would deny knowing Harley if he asked. He didn't care, the game had begun. He'd found a long black feather, longer than Aoife's feather. He placed it in his pocket and disappeared.

Mike looked around confused. He jumped down, four stories from the floor, and landed perfectly on his feet. His mission wasn't over.

•

I'd decided to go back outside with Harley, for some strange reason, I was starting to believe what he was saying. It was a bit curious how - as far as we knew - there was no angels left. And how the Guardian always came to me. Maybe he was trying to find out my weaknesses. Would it be safe to return to my apartment? Maybe I could just pretend I didn't know Harley..

"Aoife, what are you thinking about?" Harley said, softly. We were soaring through the sky, looking for somewhere safe to land and just... Talk.

"I'm just thinking, what if what you're saying is true? What if he's planning to kill me? Is it safe to go back to my apartment?" I hurried, " Harley, I really have no clue what to do!"

"Aoife, don't worry, I won't let him hurt you," Harley soothed. My heart skipped a beat with these words. Was he hitting on me?

After he'd said this, he flew a little loser, letting our feathers brush against each other. It felt like electricity was flowing through our wings, my heart was beating really fast now.

"But what happens when one morning he decides to shoot me, or one day when I come home from school, he decides to tear my wings off?" I was really panicking now. All of the possibilities were running through my head so fast I could barely keep up.

"Like I said, I won't let him hurt you," he replied. How could he be so calm? The most dangerous mutant in the world was after us! I looked over about to say this to him, when I realised he was gone.

I stopped abruptly. Where had he gone? I looked around my eyes straining in the dark to find him. I was like this for about 10 seconds until he flew straight up, took me in his arms and pressed his lips to mine. One of his hands was in my hair, the other around my back. I'd been took by surprise, but I was soon getting into it as well. I put on of my arms around his waist and used the other to go through his hair. Our wings were going at a steady beat, keeping us aloft.

His hand kept stroking my back, his lips were moving steadily against mine. My eyes were shut, but I could see the fireworks. An electrical pulse was passing between me and him. Our bodies were still embraced when we pulled away from the kiss. I flopped my head on his shoulder and began to cry. He stroked my hair and kept saying soothing words," it'll be alright, Aoife, it'll be alright." He kept repeating it.

We both snapped to attention when we heard the howl. There never was sounds like that without reason. I wiped the tears from my cheeks, angry at myself for crying in front of him.

"What was that?" I asked, dreading the answer. I could see a bit more now, as the sun was beginning to rise.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked me back. I nodded, though I felt like shaking my head. "That, Aoife, was a were-wolf, and by the sound of it, not a very friendly one."

We both soared swiftly through the sky, racing each other to see where the sound had came from. But by the time they'd reached the apartment buildings, the wolf was bounding down a street, and down the allies.

We flew over to my apartment. The balcony door - which I'd closed - was wide open, and the inside of my apartment looked like it had been hit by a bomb.

I screeched angrily. Of all the fucking apartments in London, the were-wolf had decided to raid mine for food.

"Come on, let's go check the fridge, see what he took," I sighed. I entered through the balcony door, Harley behind me. He clicked it shut and looked around the room.

"Don't worry about it, I'll clean it up later," I huffed. I went through the only door in my apartment that led to a different room, the kitchen. But it was untouched, it hadn't been in here. But if he wasn't looking for food, what was he looking for?

I turned to Harley, who was inspecting the mess. "If this was a were-wolf, where is all the scratch marks, bite marks, and fur? He couldn't leave without making at least one of those markers..." he trailed off at the end.

He was looking at the corner of the room, as if someone was there. But I couldn't see anyone, I had no idea what he was looking at, it was the only part of the room that was empty.

"Harley, what's wrong?" I asked, he was transfixed on that corner. He was just standing there with his eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," he replied tearing his dark eyes away from the corner to give me a nervous smile. He winked at me, which made me feel a little better, "I'd better go, be careful Aoife. See you later."

"Bye, Harley," I said. He looked one last time at the corner and shook his head. He spread his wings, which were a bit bigger than mine, opened the balcony door and then leapt into the air.

I felt a bit lonely now. I sighed looking over what had happened. Why had the were-wolf came to my apartment, and what was he looking for?

I cleaned my room and turned off the light. I slumped down into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

•

That had been close. The boy looked him directly into the eye. It took all of his restraint to keep himself from killing Harley right on the spot. But what would be the fun in that?

He'd decided to spy on them, to make sure they were close to each other. He was outstanded by how close they were, actually. It was almost as if...

If Harley dared even think about going out with Aoife, the Guardian would rip him apart, limb by limb. Aoife was his. Why else would he keep her alive this long?