Fading Angel | Nico di Angelo

Chapter 6: Squish

Cautiously, I turned around, looking at him. He had a scruffy brown beard and sideburns and his clothes looked like they needed a wash, but otherwise, I didn't see anything strange about him. I turned back to Nico with a confused expression. "No, why?"

Nico was still whispering, although I didn't know why. He swallowed. "Look at his feet."

I raised my eyebrow but turned again, my eyes panning from his face down to his feet. His feet... which were facing the wrong way. My stomach dropped. He was walking perfectly fine. But when I looked up, he was no longer examining the cars--his eyes were on me. And he didn't look happy.

It was in that moment that I noticed something else that was off about this man, and it had nothing to do with his body. It was a detail that I had somehow missed in my scanning as I went straight to his feet, but one I wished I had noticed. If I had, in fact, noticed beforehand, perhaps Nico wouldn't currently be tackling me to the ground. The fact of the matter was, if he hadn't, there was a very real possibility that I would have had a silver blade impaled in my heart, for the simple reason that the other that was off about this man was that he had on a belt--a belt that, like mine, held a weapon. And that weapon was a dagger that he now wielded in one hand, not that I really had time to think about it. My sequence of thoughts went something along the lines of Find a car, examine random man, look at man's feet, get out from underneath Nico.

Nico, who had already gotten up by the time this thought had registered, yelled "Get under a car!" He wasn't looking at me, but standing near my head, me being still on the ground. His sword, which I had never seen before, was drawn. The thing looked like the physical manifestation of death and fear themselves. I was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that blade. It took me a second for what he said to click. I rolled to the side, my body sliding under a silver minivan. From there, all I could see was Nico and the man's shoes, each almost blurry with movement. My heart was pounding so hard that it was almost drowning out the sound of metal on metal.

In a sudden rush of courage, I slid out from under the can, exiting it from the opposite side as the fight. When I poked my head around it, the side of it shielding me from view, I stared across the lot to Jay, who was also in a scuffle with the women--whose feet were also backwards. I didn't know what was going on, but personally, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. However, I was sure I wasn't going to just hide under a vehicle, either. I brought a sword for a reason, didn't I?

My right hand reached around to where my sword hung sheathed against my left hip. Gripping it, I pulled it out, my left hand quickly taking a hold as well. My grip was kind of awkward, but manageable. The man--creature, whatever he was--was closest to me with his back to me, Nico facing me. He, however, was so intent on the sword-fight that was happening that he didn't even notice I was there, no longer hiding under the car. I tightened my grasp and brought my arms back in what I assumed was a sort of fighting position. Maybe. I hadn't exactly trained yet.

It was right then that Nico saw me. His head turned to the side as his eyes widened in shock, and in that second his stance wavered. The man took advantage, and stabbed at him. As if only just noticing he was still in battle, Nico zoned back into what was happening and dodged just in time to nearly dodge the attack. Nearly--the blade grazed his arm as he flung himself to the side in an awkward last-second move. His back slammed into the hood of car, and once again the man was in advantage, already raising his dagger.

Desperately, I swung my sword in a too-large arc to the side. The force from the large sweeping motion swung my whole body with me, the sword almost flying out of my hands. The flat of the sword clumsily knocked into the man. It didn't seem to have much effect, other than the fact that his attention was no longer on Nico, but on me. Oops.

He lowered his dagger hand ad turned to me, angry annoyance flashing in his eyes. I took a step back, almost tripping over myself. For every step I took back, he took two forward, and he was faster than me. From the edge of my vision I could see Nico having recovered, much faster than I would have, and was approaching. I, meanwhile, was being backed up into the car rental building. My back hit the wall. C'mon, Nico...

Nico lunged with his sword, the black metal impaling the man through the heart from behind. An ear-splitting screech came from him, so loud that I could see Jay and the woman turning to look. Jay took advantage of the momentary distraction and hacked at his own opponent. I didn't watch for long, though, once again looking at the man in front of me.

Nico had taken back his blade from within the enemy and looked like he was about to go again, the thing incredibly still not dead. Through all its wailing, it had managed to retain its grip on its weapon. And that weapon was now being brought forward, not at the immediate threat, but at me. Nico was bringing his sword around, aiming for the man's neck.

Squish.

Sadly, it was not the sound of sword against neck that I heard first, nor the sound of a head rolling away. It was a sound that caused me to look down at the silver blade that was now embedded in my stomach. Moments later, the creature was decapitated, the head rolling in the opposite direction as where mine was currently landing against the ground as I fell.

"Melody-"

But I didn't hear what came next, already drifting into a peace-less unconsciousness.