Living with wings.

Chapter 4

Why does he have to irritate me so much? Why does what he speaks bother me as much as it does? And why does he insist on calling me angel, he knows my name is Ella. I start to walk quickly down the stairs to the ground level of the apartments. I press my hands on the cold handle of the door that opens up into the world outside, I can hear a door back upstairs open and close. Probably Glenn joining me for a coffee, and hopefully not his brother Deklan.
In a rush I open the door and step out onto the sidewalk, the cool breeze surrounding my body immediately. I walk quickly up the sidewalk in the direction of the coffee shop, lost in my own thoughts I cross the street. I look around and see a little girl cross the street at the other cross walk in the intersection. She seems to be looking at something in the sky, it looks like a balloon that must have come loose from somewhere. I watch her stop for a second, almost frozen in place her gaze has fixed somewhere else.
Someone yells to get her attention but she doesn't even blink. I follow her gaze and see a large truck heading towards her. Without thinking I run towards the young girl, I push her as far away as possible and reach out my hands towards the fast moving truck. I feel the grill collide with my hands, everything seems to be in slow motion. I push forwards trying to stop the truck from moving, pain shooting through my hands and the rest of my body. The truck starts to push my back words and I do my best to steady my feet, my hands push into the hood of the truck and leave a large dent. I feel the warmth of my wings starting to show and fight to conceal them. The truck comes to a stop quickly and the heat fades, I look over to see the girl laying on the ground horrified. I try my best to smile but it's a struggle. I feel something dripping from my nose, I wipe my wrist under my nose and look at the red liquid covering my hands and wrist. Suddenly my legs go weak and I fall to the ground, the second I touch the pavement the little girl lets out a blood curdling scream. I look around and see everybody staring, the man in the truck gets out and looks at me with a painful look.
I close my eyes for a second trying to control the beat of my heart, but with no success. I strong arm slides under my legs suddenly and another lifts my arm behind someone's neck. I open my eyes and see Deklan staring at me, looking somewhat worried. "Damnit angel, are you trying to get yourself killed?" His eyes somewhat angry with his question.
I look at the little girl standing next to a woman balling." Better me than her." I point in her direction as Deklan starts walking. He barely looks over while walking in the direction of my apartment again." And I do wish you would stop calling me that."
With a small smirk Deklan opens the door and walks up the stairs to my apartment. " Still, that was stupid. Do you know what my brother would do if I let you die?"
I look at his face while he walks, he's handsome as much as I would hate to admit it. " It's not like it was gonna hurt me very badly. Strength is one of my gifts, know one else would have been able to stop that truck dead in the road." Deklan looks down at me before opening the door into my apartment.
Glenn comes rushing over, horror washed over his face. " What happened, are you okay?"
I smile and look at Glenn. " I'm fine, just a few bumps and bru-" Deklan cuts me off and replies to Glenn's questions.
"She got herself hit by a truck." He looks almost smug, like he won or something.
I try to wiggle out of his arms but his grip is firm, he walks towards my bedroom door without permission and opens it.
Glenns face goes white in disbelief. "How did you? Why- why would you."
I weakly smile from within the doorframe. " There was a little girl." Deklan continues walking into the bathroom and he stops in front of the mirror. My face and arms are torn up and bruised, and my nose was definitely bleeding. My hands are covered in blood too, probably from a combination of the blade caused marks as well as the many new ones from the hood of the truck. " I didn't  realize I looked this bad." I say somewhat jokingly but Deklan just glares into the mirror. He sets me down on the counter and walks over to the bath. He turns the tap and runs the water over his hand for a second.
Some blood from my arm washes off his hands.
" Even with your strength that was stupid, if you had miss timed anything you could have been killed." Deklans voice is cold and angry. " I'm gonna go deal with my brothers eventual panic attack, you get in and clean yourself up again." His voice putting emphasis on the word again. He walks out of the bathroom and closes the door before anymore words could be said.
I undress slowly and step into the tub, cringing when the water stings my body but sinking down slowly. I watch as the water becomes slightly red. I can hear Glenn screaming from the main room, I can't believe I did this. Suddenly there is a knock at the door.
"Ella, it's me." Glenn's voice sounds soft and nervous from through the door. "Are you okay?"
His sincere words make my heart sink, he sounds like he's going to cry. " I'm fine I promise. It's just scrapes and bruises, I stopped the truck it didn't hit me." Glenn doesn't say anything, yet his words are loud and clear. " I'm sorry, it's just I couldn't watch a little girl get hit by that truck."
I can hear Glenn sigh from the other side of the door. " It's okay, just remember your not indestructible anymore." With that I can hear him walk away and back into the main room.
I soak for a while before getting out and throwing on a fresh pair of black leggings and a sweater, because I am sitting on the couch and not moving.
I step out into the main room expecting a lector or more yelling from Deklan, but there is a strong silence instead. I let out a long sigh and flop myself into the couch. The guys are standing up watching me, Deklans stare is cold and angry making chills run up my spine. While Glenn just looks at me with sadness, I feel so upset whenever he looks at me like that. Both men are leaning on either side of the fire places mantle, they look almost identical making it more believable that they are brothers. I sink into the couch slowly while matching glares with Deklan, occasionally glancing towards Glenn with a softer expression. " If I am gentle on myself for the next couple days I will heal quickly, so you don't need to be so angry at me."
Glenn's face twists into a small smile and then back to a frown when Deklan shoots some daggers his way. Why does Glenn seem so afraid of Deklan? " Didn't you consider the idea of people being curious about how you stopped a speeding truck, with your hands, without dying on the spot."
He is right, I could have put all three of us in danger. " I was not letting that little girl die that way. And I don't wanna hear about it anymore. If you say one more thing about it to me your sleeping on the streets. Im a fast healer, my injury will be healed faster than any regular person with less impact on my body. And I swear to god I will yell at you, if you don't get my dress that you ruined dry cleaned by tomorrow. " Deklan looks completely surprised, I guess he's not used to taking orders.
With a prominent wink Deklan smiles. "Sure thing angel." And with that he walks into my bedroom and leaves the apartment with my dress in hand.
I stare at the door for a short while. "I know he is your brother, but he irritates me immensely." Glenn glances at me before looking at the floor again.
With a small laugh he speaks quietly. "Yah, he seems to have that impression on people. But he's not that bad I promise." I let out a heavy sigh and sink even deeper into the couch.
"I really am sorry." Glenn looks back up at me again, an odd expression in his eyes.
With a small grunt he stands up and walks over to me. He sits next to me and offers his shoulder as a pillow. Without a word I lean my head on his shoulder and we sit in silence. I feel myself drifting to sleep slowly, it's probably for the best if I want to heal faster.
Soon I open my eyes again still barely awake. " I should probably move to my bed, since I seem to be falling asleep."
Glenn's eyes meet mine as he responds. " There might be a storm tonight, if you want I can stay for the night. But I want to run some errands before I lose daylight."
With a smile I close my eyes for a second. " No, I should be okay. I don't think it's going to storm, besides you should go enjoy the day and catch up with Deklan."
I stand up slowly and make my way towards the bedroom door and open it cautiously. " Alright, call me if you need me at all. Deklan should be back soon too so I guess. I don't know, if you need something you can ask him." With that Glenn stands up and walks towards the door, and I make my way into the bed.
It doesn't take long before I fall asleep surrounded by the soft blankets. I don't dream much, every once and a while I find myself in the street in front of the truck again. Right before it hits me, I find myself in the empty darkness again. It's unsettling how everything seems so real again. Every time the truck gets closer and closer. I find the familiar scene replaying again but this time it seems different. I feel more uneasy than before, something doesn't feel right. I watch as the speeding truck gets closer, I wait for everything to stop again but it's not. The truck seems to be speeding up, what's happening? I look around and see the young girl laying on the sidewalk where I pushed her, nobody else is around. I turn my attention back to the truck, and in that instant I feel it collide with my body again with a loud crash. This time the pain is unbearable, what's happening to me? My hands don't stop the truck, instead it goes right over me without stopping. I curl up trying to relive some of the pain, but it doesn't help anything. I look down at my stomach and see blood staining my shirt, I move my hands but nothing's there.
Another crash wakes me, I shoot upright in my bed with a gasp. I throw the blankets off myself quickly to inspect my stomach, nothing. I look around and see it's dark outside, I stand up quickly and make my way towards the door. With another crash I hit the ground, I start to shake slightly. It's just a storm, everything's okay. Another crash and I let out a small scream, I cover my mouth hoping Deklan is not outside the door to hear me. I start to stand up but another crash sends me back to the ground. I close my eyes and try to imagine that it's morning, and that all I can hear is vehicles going by the apartment. But every crash of thunder sends that idea farther out the window. Suddenly the door opens a little quickly before I close it again. " What's the matter? Are you dying?!" I loud and confused voice yells at me.
I take a breath before almost whimpering to Deklan. " I'm fine, it's j-just the thunder." Great, now he is going to make fun of me for being a whimp, or a little girl or something.
I can hear him sigh from the other side of the door. " Open the door angel."
The door knob wiggles a few times as he tries to tell me what to do. " No, I'm fine go away."
" Open the door now Ella!" He yells at me threw the door, sounding very frustrated.
I cross my arms over my chest. " I'm not opening the door, if I do you will just make fun of me."
I await his sarcastic reply but he doesn't say anything. I can hear him against the door like he sat down. " I was afraid of trains."
The kindness in his voice catches me completely off guard. " What did you just say?" My voice wobbles as another crash of thunder surrounds me.
" When I first got here, I didn't have anybody. And I slept in a building next to train tracks, and every time one went by it scared the shit out of me." Why is he being so honest? Or perhaps he is not, maybe he is just trying to trick me into opening the door for him? " I was here before Glenn, and nobody greeted me so I was alone. And nobody told me what it was, so I was scared of the trains. Your lucky you found by brother, and that he was there for you."
Everything is silent for a few seconds as I process everything Deklan has just said to me. Another crash of thunder makes me scream slightly and I quickly jump up and open the door. Deklan looks at me surprised, his eyes are wide but he stands up before I could blink and wraps his arms around me. " You know angel, I'm kinda jealous that you had Glenn. He's actually pretty cool, but if you tell him that I'll kill you."
I smile into his warm chest and we just stand there, everytime there's thunder he squeezes me a bit and it makes me feel so much more comfortable. " I would like to see you try."