Guardian... Angel? (SAMPLE)

ONE~An Unexpected Meeting

Aria

I walked quickly down the street, pulling my sweater tighter around myself to fend off the cold night air. 

I'm an idiot, I thought over and over as I stuck another marker into the ground, proving that I'd been here. I never should have taken that stupid bet, a hundred bucks so isn't worth losing my life over. 

I could feel all the hairs on my body stand up as I pictured leering eyes and pointed teeth shining through the darkness around me. The thought made me pick up my pace a little.

I turned onto my street and my pace got even quicker. A smile broke out on my face. I was almost home; almost safe. Just a few more steps until... I froze. Standing on my front lawn under the large maple tree that stood between me and the front door was a dark, shadowy figure. It was swaying back and forth, it's face turned up and it's nose in the air as if it was trying to track something by scent, the way a dog might.
I started to back up slowly, hoping whatever it was hadn't noticed me yet and fearing that it might be the very thing that had haunted the nightmares of every child that had grown up in the godforsaken town, when my foot landed on a stick and there was a loud crack. The figure spun around to look straight at me. In the blink of an eye, I found myself face to face with it- even if it was too dark to actually see what its face looked like. I could tell that whatever it was was tall and very well built though. The strong type of arms and hands that could snap a neck in a moment; crush a skull as if it were an eggshell. A hundred images of horrible, hideous faces that could belong to the thing in front of me passed through my mind.

"What's your name?" A deep and surprisingly normal voice asked.

"Aria Semble" I replied immediately, unable to help myself as fear coursed through me.

"Aria" the figure murmured thoughtfully, leaning towards me, "I'm so hungry."

A wave of panic rushed through me. It rested its hands lightly on my shoulders and let its lips graze slowly down my neck. I wanted desperately to run, or scream, but my fear kept me frozen, unable to take action. What if it's not a monster? I thought. What if it's just some crazy serial killer? My question was answered a second later though when It bit into my shoulder. I let out a small, whimpering cry. I flinched, expecting sharp pain, but none came. In fact, I realized that it actually felt wonderful. Warmth spread through my limbs, and my head became light. There was a soft hum in my ears. My toes curled with pleasure and I let out a soft sigh. It was as if every cell in my body was singing. I leaned into It , wrapping my arms around its bare waist. Everything seemed so perfe-

My neighbours dog, Tucker, began barking frantically and reality came rushing back to me. I tore myself away from It, despite the pain that the action sent throbbing through my shoulder.

"Stay away!" I cried, backing towards my front door.

It clenched and unclenched its hands, it's chest heaving. I continued to back towards the front porch. I took three more steps, but then my heel connected with the edge of my cement front walkway and I fell backward with a cry, scraping my elbow. The motion sensor front porch light of my house flicked on, momentarily blinding me. As I slowly sat up, something caught my attention. It was now bathed in light and looking around frantically for somewhere to hide. What really caught my attention, however, was how... human It was. It had short black hair and crystal blue eyes. It's bare chest was well toned. 

He's beautiful, I thought before pausing to frown. Wait, when did I start calling It'him'? 

It looked for a moment like he was about to run, but then two large black wings sprout from his back and he lifted up into the air. As he disappeared from sight, I began scrambling backwards before finally making it to my feet. I ran inside and pulled the door shut behind me only to turn and find something even scarier standing behind me- a very upset looking mother sitting on a chair in our front hall.

"What were you thinking?!" my mother cried. "Going out at night?"

"I-I dunno... it was a bet and I..." I stammered.

"You're hurt. What did you do?" my mom asked, her voice a bit softer this time. "You're bleeding all over the place."

"Well," I looked down at my shoulder to see that the two small bite marks were now bleeding. "I had a run in with-"

I couldn't finish my sentence. I didn't know what to say. I'd been told my whole life that monsters were real, that the town residence weren't the only ones roaming our streets, but to actually say aloud that I thought I'd been attacked by one- it seemed crazy.

My mom did a sharp intake and leaned in to get a closer look.

"Oh God, you-" she paused, letting the air slowly back out. "Let's get a bandage on that. I'll call Dr. Malford first thing tomorrow to come check it out." 

I nodded and followed her upstairs to the bathroom. She took out a bandage and taped it to my shoulder with medical tape. My shoulder was throbbing, but not in an unpleasant way. My body was still warm and relaxed. I felt as if I had just returned from the best spa in the world.  

"Are you going to be okay?" my mom asked, giving me a concerned look as she closed the medicine cabinet. "I could set up the cot on your bedroom floor and sleep in there with you, if you'd like."

"No, I'm just," I searched for the right word. "Tired. I just want to go to sleep and forget that this whole thing ever happened."

She gave me a wary look, as if unsure whether to trust what I was saying. She was leaning away from me slightly.

She's afraid of me, I realised with a start. As always when I thought about anything pertaining to monsters, it was my grandmother's voice that rang through my head:

"I wish you were old enough that I could teach you the Magyk that I know. Since the Burning, we aretnt even allowed to speak of it anymore. By the time you're grown up, no one will remember how to protect themselves from the beats of the dark anymore. Back in my day, we had the Books of Monsters and the people of Hollowdale avidly practised Magyk. People got scared, though. They feared that by practising Magyk and learning the histories of and trying to understand monsters, it would make the humans of the town empathetic to the monsters and in time, more like them. People feared becoming monsters themselves. So, instead they burned all the books and decided all they needed to know of Monsters was that they should hide in fear of them. What people don't understand is that you can burn the books, but that doesn't mean the Magyk isn't still there. The thing about Magyk is that it will always be there when you need it most. Remember that, Aria."

My mother was terrified because for all she or I knew, I could be turning into a Vampyre as we spoke.

"Okay, but if you need anything, you know that I am just down the hall,"  she said finally with a hint of relief. "Get some sleep."

"Goodnight" I said to her as she made her way down the hall.

She paused before entering her room. "Oh, but Aria? Don't think that this gets you off the line. You're still in big trouble. You know the truth about this town, you were stupid to have gone out during the night, and you are damn lucky to be alive. Now, I love you, and goodnight."

With that, my mom stepped into her room, closing her bedroom door behind her. Moments later, i heard the desrinct sound of her lock sliding into place. I stared at it for a second before letting out a sigh. Then, I went into my own room and sat down on the bed, my head spinning. I thought about my grandmother's explanation for vampyres. Had she been right? I swallowed the uncomfortable dryness that had formed in my throat, stripped off my pants, and climbed into bed in my t-shirt and underwear, not even bothering to change. I reached over to flip my light off, and then pulled my covers up to my chin.

That night, as I finally drifted off, my dreams filled with images of a beautiful dark haired boy with startling crystal eyes and large, black angelic wings.

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