Hi everyone! After a whole month of waiting, here is Chapter 10! Please don't forget to follow me, comment, vote, share this book to your friends, and add this book to your libraries! Let me know in the comments below what you thought of this chapter! Also, updates will be more frequent after June 1st! *Warning: this chapter is unedited so there will be mistakes.*
Song: "Powerful" by Ellie Goulding
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"Fear cuts deeper than swords."
― George R.R. Martin
I couldn't pay attention in Economics class. Although the early warm rays of sunshine brought me peace for a moment, the knot of fear in my stomach refused to go away. I usually fall asleep in this class, but after learning of Daemon's game, I'm afraid to fall asleep even for a second. After the visit to the Nether Realm, I avoided the darkness, fearing that smooth pale hands would emerge from the darkness and drag me back to hell. I haven't slept for two days and surprisingly, I was wide awake. My teacher, Mr. Melton continued to drone about the importance of GDP to the national economy and the next words he said after, I tuned out.
I turned and saw Angelo give me his usual warm smile in class mouthing "I'm bored" while rolling his eyes. I gave him a wide grin just to hide the fact that I haven't slept for two days and the fact I was so dizzy. Thank the Lord for concealer and makeup.
Blinking a few times to prevent myself from succumbing to sleep, a small piece of paper hit my cheek and fell on my desk. Out of habit, I glanced at Brittany who was giving me a knowing look. I read the note, pretending as if I was reading the textbook when my teacher's suspicious eyes landed on me.
You look like crap, have you slept at all? The note read.
I glanced at Brittany and shook my head. The bell rang and I gathered my things before the small hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I looked around the almost empty classroom only to see busy students gathering their stuff.
You're just being paranoid, Celeste, I thought to myself.
I headed out the door and into the almost empty hallway to see Angelo leaning against my locker. Ever since I learned he was an angel, I couldn't stop imagining him with his wings although he does his best to hide them.
Giving him a tired smile, I motioned for him to move out of my way before he gently grabbed my arm and pulled me to his muscular chest. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist. To say that I was surprised was an understatement.
"You've been lying to me." He whispered.
"I-I have?" I stuttered confused. Pulling away a little, I craned my neck just to see his face.
"You haven't been sleeping well." Angelo murmured.
I nodded. "Every time I close my eyes, I see the ghosts and I'm afraid that if I sleep, we're going to go back to the Nether Realm and play another game." Tears began to well up causing my vision to blur, these stubborn droplets threatening to fall anytime soon.
"I will always be here to protect you." He added before he murmured something I couldn't quite hear. I was about to ask him what it was when a searing pain within me caused me to double over in pain.
Angelo's strong arms caught me just in time before I collapsed on the ground.
"Help m-me.." I managed to gasp.
The pain was unbearable. It was as if my heart was being stabbed multiple times by a dagger. Black spots clouded my vision and the pain intensified. It's as if being closer to Angelo was making my condition worse.
My forearm was stinging as if burned by something hot. Through heavy lids, I glanced at my arm only to find myself letting out a small cry. The intricate dark mark Daemon gave me, that I thought disappeared, glared at me in its wicked glory. Slowly, the obsidian tendrils of the ink crawled its way to the other side of my arm, weaving its beautiful design on the back of my palm.
Angelo grabbed hold of my hand only to let go of it immediately, his face scrunching in pain as if my hand burned him. My bare shoulders touched the cool lockers behind me as the pain subsided slowly. Slowly opening my eyes, I took a closer look at the new design. It reminded me a of a henna tattoo, except the pattern engraved on my forearm and the back of my palm was more exotic, deadly even.
Taking a step closer, Angelo examined the tattoo with disbelief.
"It can't be," he murmured. "He can't do this."
The dark feeling in my gut told me that this was Daemon's fault. Tears began to well up from my eyes. I'm so tired of being afraid. I'm exhausted because I can no longer go through another night without sleep knowing who waits for me in my dreams. My thoughts were cut short when familiar voices filled the once silent hallway.
"Guys!!!!!!" Summer's cheerful voice echoed through the now empty hallway. Brittany, Ted, and Daniel trailed behind her. Stopping in her tracks, she analyzed me and Angelo's expressions.
"Did I interrupt something?" she asked, her eyes widening in shock.
"It looked like we interrupted Celeste and Angelo's makeout session." Daniel smirked.
"Shut up Daniel, obviously something bad just happened right now." Brittany said, pointing at my tight grip on my tattooed arm.
Ted, Summer, and Daniel's eyes widened in shock when the tattoo slowly disappeared leaving my skin flawless, as if nothing happened. It was then I noticed the dark circles that rimmed their eyes that my friends and I were in a similar situation that we can never escape from unless we face it. Brittany gave me and Angelo a knowing look. We need to tell them Angelo's true identity.
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After a long explanation and after revealing Angelo's wings again, Ted, Summer, and Daniel were speechless. We lounged around the living room of my cramped home when Angelo broke the truth about his identity as an angel to the rest of our group.
I touched my forearm gingerly when I heard Ted speak.
"I feel like we're in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street." Ted murmured.
I couldn't agree with him more. However, unlike in the movie, we weren't being chased by a scorched madman but rather the devil himself. He was too beautiful to be evil, but one of these known truths in this world was that appearances are deceitful.
"All of us can't keep working like this. Sooner or later, we will all fall asleep." Angelo stated.
"But if we do, we'll have to play the game with Daemon." Summer added.
"I know, but we have to continue and win the game if we want to live." He replied.
"I just wanted to graduate high school and be normal." Daniel muttered.
In the midst of my friends' chatter, I chose to remain silent. I'm still afraid that the pain will return with a vengeance. I noticed that it only escalates whenever I'm near Angelo. Although Angelo's story was heartbreaking, there was a missing piece to this story that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Summer let out a loud yawn. This sound seems to be contagious that it caused the rest of me and my friends to yawn as well. My gaze fell on the clock that hung next to the TV. The hands read 11:59pm. One more minute and I've officially haven't slept for 3 days.
"If we fall asleep, and see each other at the Nether Realm, I want you guys to know I will do my best to get us out of the Nether Realm." Angelo declared.
I could tell that my friends were nervous and scared. I couldn't blame them, I was nervous and scared too. I settled on the brown lumpy couch and lied down. A soft throb in my head told me that Angelo was close. Yawning, I motioned for him to come closer although the small throb of pain intensifies causing me to become drowsier. My whole body felt like lead causing me to fall further into the dark abyss of sleep.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that I wasn't home anymore as expected. I was lying on the cold hard ground with small rocks biting on the side of my cheek. I still wore the clothes I wore before I passed out. It was dark and the wind blew its somber melody through the trees' spindly arms as I stood up when a wave of dizziness hit me.
"Okay, whose stupid nightmare is this?" Brittany challenged us. It was at times like these that I'm grateful for Brittany's tough attitude. Summer shrieked in fear when a spider decided to crawl up her leg while Ted was trying to help her get rid of it. The forest was definitely not my fear. I loved nature too much to fear it. As I looked up at the sky, the moon shined brightly while stars littered the sky. It was a shame that they were fake; they would've been beautiful.
I looked at Daniel. He was silent during Brittany's question.
"Is it yours?" I asked him.
He nodded quietly.
"What are you so afraid of in the forest anyway?" Ted asked.
"Yeah, you smoke so many trees it's surprising that you'd be scared of the forest." Brittany mocked.
A lone wolf howled into the forest while other wolves followed suit. Their continuous howls echoed throughout the forest that it was impossible to tell whether they were close or distant. The air around us suddenly grew colder causing the hairs on my arms to stand not only from the chill but from fear.
Twigs snapped and cracked slowly all around us causing me and my friends to huddle close together. Angelo motioned for me to stand behind him as he unfurled his soft glorious wings, protecting us from the invisible threat. His hand searched for mine and I gladly took his and intertwined my hands with his. The throbbing pain on my forearm that comes when I'm close to Angelo gradually returned causing me to wince and pull away. The howls ceased leaving me and my friends in deafening silence.
And that was when we saw them.
One by one, two pairs of golden eyes glowed behind the trees in front of us followed by others. Loud inhuman growls resonated throughout the silent forest that the panic that's slowly escalating within me reached its peak.
"Stay quiet and don't move." Angelo ordered softly.
All of us remained still except for Daniel. He was trembling so much that he was causing the dry leaves under his feet to crackle.
The creature hiding behind the trees pounced and landed on Angelo causing the rest of me and my friends to fall on the moist ground. The wolf on top of Angelo raised its paw to strike him but Angelo avoided it by emitting a ball of pure light from his hands causing the large creature to yelp and retreat. More wolves appeared before us with bared teeth
"Run!" Angelo yelled as he raised both his hands that illuminate light to protect us from wolves.
Dragging Summer and Daniel to stand up, I ran while keeping my grip tight on their arms. Our pants and heavy breathing were all I could hear. I looked back and saw Brittany behind us. The moon's rays showed the wolves chasing us, their teeth bared as if they were mocking at our pathetic attempts to flee.
"We have to split up." I wheezed. "We'll find each other when Daniel overcomes his fear."
Ted, Summer, and Brittany nodded as they ran the opposite direction leaving me and Daniel sprinting the opposite way. Twigs scratched my face and arms but I persevered to live. We ran for ages until Daniel fell behind me gasping for air. I stopped and tried to pull him up but he pushed me away.
"Come on Daniel, we have to go now." I panted.
"I can't...run...anymore." He gasped as he scooted himself closer to a tree. Daniel rested his head against it, closing his eyes.
I pulled at his arm weakly when the hair on the back of my neck bristled. I turned swiftly to find a single large wolf in front of me. My chest tightened to let out the scream that never came out of my lips. I had no weapons with me to intimidate the monster whose head was tilted to the side as if contemplating how it will kill me. The wolf's hypnotic eyes were a shade of blue I've seen before that screamed devil.
It took a few steps towards me and Daniel which caused my friend to hyperventilate in fear. I backed away causing my back to touch the tree's hard skin. The monster switched its attention from me and bared its teeth to form a sadistic grin towards its actual prey; Daniel.
"This is the nightmare you must overcome, Danny." I whispered.
"What do I do?" he asked me.
Before I could answer, the wolf sprung towards me and everything went black when all I could do to protect myself was turn my head away from my inevitable death.
A few seconds passed and nothing happened. I doubt that I was still alive at this point. Only warm air that brushed against my cheek caused me to slowly open my eyes and find Angelo standing before me.
Relief washed over me that I didn't even hesitate and gave him a hug that caused Angel to stumble back.
"I'm here, it's okay, it'll be alright." He said while wrapping his arm tightly around my waist and his other hand on the back of my neck.
I didn't realize that I was crying until Angelo wiped a stray tear from my dirt streaked cheek with his thumb. Looking at him, I thought I saw a flash of blue in his eyes but I ignored it when he pulled me closer to his embrace giving me warmth on my goose bumped skin. Angelo's usual bright hazel eyes dulled from the forest's darkness. He traced my cheek slowly with his thumb before his dark orbs trailed from my eyes to my lips.
He was so close that our noses were almost touching. The warmth of his breath caressed the top of my lip softly as I slowly closed my eyes when his smooth lips met mines. My heart was pounding hard against my chest as I dared to wrap my arms around his neck to pull him closer to me. Angelo pushed me further against the tree his kisses switching from gentle and passionate to desperate and rough.
This switch surprised me at first since I've never been kissed before. Maybe this was how boys kissed. My hands were tangled into Angelo's velvety straight locks when I finally pulled away for air. Angelo's forehead was against mine when I finally opened my eyes for the first time since our kiss.
When the wonderful haze from the kiss finally disappeared, I found myself staring into Daemon's cold cerulean eyes.
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xoxo,
-Angelique