An Angel's Kiss

Chapter 11

My head was spinning as fast as it possibly could. I felt like I was on a roller-coaster- The Scrambler. I remembered why I have always hated that ride; I always felt like I was about to puke afterwards.

I picked up the slip of paper again, inspecting it. Turning it around in my hands I realized that the paper had to be relatively recent. You could tell that it was new, and it was completely flat. There were no crinkles or anything on it.

But my brain was still trying to get over the fact that it was Sierra’s handwriting. I knew that it was; I recognized it, but how? She was dead. I watched her die. End of story. There’s absolutely nothing more to know about that.

“I’m home!” The front door slammed shut just as my mother walked in, and I had to quell the urge to jump. “Are you hungry?” She called up again, not giving me a chance to respond.

It was funny; I hadn’t noticed how hungry I was until then. I guess my day had been so confusing I completely forgot about eating. “Yeah!”I tried to make my voice sound cheerful, and I think it worked.

Quickly, I peeled myself out of bed and placed the journal on my bedside table. I didn’t want to put the note down, though. That wouldn’t feel right to me. I felt like I had to have it with me- at all times. I didn’t understand the feeling, but I just shrugged, slipped it into my pocket and walked downstairs.

The smell of grilled cheese filled my nose and I pasted a smile on my face. I didn’t want my mom to think that anything was wrong with me. She would ask about what was wrong; I wouldn’t be able to keep it from her. I’m not a very good liar, never have been.

We both sat down at the table, me desperately trying to avoid her eyes. Luckily, she was too wrapped up in her world of work to worry about me- at least for the moment. “How did work go, Mom?” I tried to start a conversation with her.

I think I caught her off-guard, because it took her a moment to respond to my question. “It went well. Some of my clients…ugh!” I snickered as a shudder ran down her back. “I can barely stand being in the same room as them, much less talk to them!” That did it, and we both cracked up laughing. It was fun; my Mom and I hadn’t laughed like this for a long time. Namely, after Sierra’s death.

“Mom, is it okay if I go see if I can hang out with Jessica?” My hand was nervously tracing a pattern on the tablecloth.

“Sure.” Her voice was flat; it was obvious that she might have wanted me to stay with her for a little longer. There was nothing more I could do about that, though. I’d already asked. I wanted to say that I’d take it back, but I really needed the time to think.

Before she could change her mind, I quickly walked back upstairs to grab my phone. I dialed in Jess's number twice; both times the number went straight to her answering machine. I groaned, throwing my head back. Honestly, I loved my mom, but I just couldn't be around her right now. That was just too much for me to handle. Then I made up my mind. "Hey Mom, can I go walk down to the river? Jessica said that she's meet me there!" I felt guilty for the lie, but I knew that it was necessary. I could deal with the repercussions of it later.

"Just call me when you get back, please?" Her response was calm, but I could hear the panic lying beneath her facade. I knew she was trying not to baby me, and it was appreciated. I didn’t want to be that one girl who’s mom was way over-protective. But I’m sure that no one would blame her if they knew. They were never going to know if I could help it. Jessica didn’t even know, and I intended to keep it that way.

“Will do!” I hollered behind me as I walked out the back door. Immediately, I felt better. I knew that the fresh air would do me some good.

The river was a little ways into the forest behind my house, but not so close that everyone knew where it was. It was far enough that unless you knew exactly where it was, you would get lost. And that was exactly why I intended to go down there: nobody would know where I had gone except for my parents. As far as I knew, only Jessica’s family and my family knew about this little place.

My feet made almost no sound as I traveled through the woods. There was no path, but I knew my way around well enough to get there. We had carved things into the trees so that we would never get lost on the way there.

While I walked, my mind wandered. It kept on coming back to the exact same thing: the note that was in my pocket. Sighing I pulled out the now-crumpled note. Smoothing it out, I re-read the words that were already ingrained in my memory. “God,” I muttered under my breath, “My life is so freaking screwed up!” I kicked a tree with my foot as I continued walking.

Brambles got caught in my hair, and my hands were getting torn up from all the branches. It didn’t bother me until I literally got myself stuck to a tree. “Why does everything stupid happen to me?” I asked myself. Only I would get myself stuck in a tree. Slowly, I started taking out the branches that were stuck to my hair and clothes. I found myself being very happy that I had been wearing long jeans that day; I didn’t want my legs scratched up too.

Just I was about to open my mouth to mumble some profanities I heard something. Actually, it was more like someone. A deep growling voice was speaking. “You know what you have to do!” His voice rose with every word that he spoke; it was obvious that he was angry with whoever else was with him.

“Yes. I do. But I’m not going to fight un-fairly. She has to know first. Otherwise, I will not have actually won anything.” The next voice was calm. But it was not the words that made me freeze. It was the voice. It kind of sounded like mine, but different. The words went in one ear and out the other, but the voice stayed with me.

It was flat, emotionless. I tore the branches off of my body, trying to get a glance of the second voice. They were coming in the direction that the river was, so at least I would have a reason for going in that direction.

“Someone’s coming! Leave.” This time it was the first voice. No! I pushed myself harder, trying to get a glimpse of the people behind the voices.

When I arrived there, all I got was a glance at a pale, shimmery white person. In the next second, the person disappeared. By that time, I was alone in the clearing next to the river.

That thing that I just saw looked like the ghost I had seen in my nightmare. Sierra’s ghost. It didn’t seem right to me, though. In my dream, she looked somewhat alive, and her voice was normal. But this person’s….

It didn’t sound like her, but it looked like her.

A/N: I decided that you guys would all prefer to read my authors note at the end as opposed to the beginning of my chapter.

This chapter was fun for me to write. Honestly, I thought that it would be way  more harder than it actually was. Thank you to all my newest fans! You guys are all loved!

Anyways, don't forget to comment, vote and fan if you haven't already!

Love you all,

XxTheDarkAngelxX