"You just don't understand," Allison retorted angrily, folding her arms sternly over her chest as we soared across the sunlit sky.
"Oh my God, you broke a nail, get over it," Siena called back over her shoulder in irritation. Allison broke her acrylic nail this morning while she was straightening her hair, and had been in a bad mood ever since. Don't ask me why- I understood as much as Siena did.
"It's so annoying though- I just got them done before we left. They're lucky these babies didn't come with a warranty, or I'd sue for emotional trauma," Allison frowned.
"Can we move on? At this rate I'm gonna fall asleep flying and land us in Texas instead of Nebraska," Siena glanced over her shoulder at me, rolling her eyes at Allison.
"Where are we now?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the flat, brown-ish yellow ground below us. It was obviously farmland, with different sized rectangles in different shades of brown stretching around us like a quilted blanket.
"Probably close to the border, " Siena called back.
"What's that?" I glanced over at Allison, who narrowed her eyes at the ground in front of us. I frowned, squinting through the thin layer of clouds at a little dark shape silhouetted against the ground.
"I'll investigate. Keep flying," I heard Grey call out from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at him and he gave a subtle nod of affirmation, as if he knew I was going to tell him to be safe. Grey pulled his wings in close, dive-bombing down to the ground with a streamline of grey clouds trailing back over the arches of his wings. A few moments later, he began to push his way back up into the sky, eventually getting back to our level.
"Well?" I yelled back expectantly. Obviously he a- came back and b- wasn't harmed, so I wasn't too concerned.
"A bus painted like a cow?" One of his eyebrows slowly arched upwards, the corners of his lips curling in an amused smirk.
"Nebraska's weird. I spent a few months here back in the late 1800s. Hasn't changed much," Siena replied with a chuckle.
We spent the next hour or so flying over cornfields with the occasional patch of trees, old Victorian style houses with attached barns and tractors sitting out front passing us by down below. By the time the sun began to set behind us, we'd reached our home for the night.
Siena had some old friends whose grandkids now owned a bed and breakfast outside of Lincoln, and had snagged us two rooms for free. Apparently the family now owed Siena what they referred to as a 'blood debt', and whenever Siena asked for something from them, she got it. The married couple that owned the place were very sweet. They both had white hair and bright blue eyes like the sky above us, with the man standing only a few inches taller than his wife. I believe their names were Waylon and Mary-Jo, but it might've been Winston and Mary-Rose. I couldn't read their lips very well from outside the house. Siena had asked us to wait outside while she talked to them. I don't know why.
When Siena came outside the house, we were all sitting on the patio waiting. She motioned for us to get up and follow her.
"I thought it was a bed and breakfast? Doesn't that normally mean staying in their house?" I asked as we followed her down the steps and across the front lawn towards the red barn.
"I guess it's more of a 'barn and breakfast'. Barn's been converted to use as a guest space. There's 6 rooms, I think they said. We're on the top floor," she smiled, handing an old brass key to me. I raised an eyebrow, dangling the key in front of Grey, who rolled his eyes. I'm sure he was thrilled. Grey was much more of a minimalist, city kind of guy- the kind that stayed in 5 star hotels when it wasn't too dangerous too. Now here we were, crossing the country motel to motel, snagging what we could at gas stations if we needed any sort of food. Although, I must say- I've yet to feel hungry as an Angel. More than anything, I've just craved the sensation of chewing or the taste of something. Maybe that was an immortal thing too.
Siena yanked the sliding doors to the barn open. It was cute. There were light wooden floors and a central staircase that went up to the second floor, which had a walkway going around to each of the rooms. Each door was painted a different color, with a different painting of a farm animal hung on it.
"Alright. Grey and Jordan, you're room 6. Allison and I will take 4, so we're right next to you. Make sure you deadbolt the doors. Apparently there's been some deadbeat hobo named Ricky breaking in and stealing bars of soap," Siena explained.
"Soap?" Allison raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know," Siena rolled her eyes, heading up the staircase. We followed her and turned right at the top of the stairs. Siena jiggled the key into the lock on the first door, which was painted a bright purple, and Grey and I headed down towards the last room, which had a blue door. I pushed the key into the lock, wiggled it a little, and then turned, swinging the door open with a creak.
The room was simple. There was a queen sized bed placed against the wall with a quilted comforter, a set of farmhouse windows overlooking the cornfield on the far wall, and a little bathroom to the right. There were quirky paintings of farm animals on every single wall- not a bit of technology in sight. Guess I'd have to use my phone as an alarm then.
"Interesting taste," I turned back around and smiled to Grey as he closed the door behind us, dead-bolting it shut.
"I'm just glad we're leaving tomorrow. The next time I hear somebody ask about the horses in the back, I'm gonna snap a neck," he grumbled and I snorted, rolling my eyes.
"You're just tired, don't take it out on Waylon and Mary-Jo," I ran my hands up his chest, leaning up to kiss him. His hands found my waist and he smiled against my lips. Hmm. This was good. This- this was home. Him.
"They're lucky I have you to distract me," he murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead and wrapping his arms around me in a protective hug.
"Lucky indeed. Does the Angel that Heaven sent know we'll be at Bryn Athyn tomorrow?" I asked, resting my chin on his chest as I looked up at him.
"Yeah, we're on schedule, so he should be there. And then we'll hop on a flight to Paris hopefully the next day or so," he hummed.
"Where are we staying in Paris?" I furrowed my brows. I hoped he wasn't going to say Notre Dame, because staying for however long we're going to be there on stone floors- no thank you. I could handle one night at Bryn Athyn, but any longer and Angel or not- my back would break.
"Siena has friends in Paris that she and Allison are staying with. You're welcome to stay with them, or-"
"Or?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I have a flat. A few blocks down from Notre Dame," he shrugged, an arrogant smirk tugging up the corners of his lips. His ice blue eyes twinkled mischievously underneath those thick lashes as if to say 'hell ya I have a flat in Paris'.
"Of course you have a place in Paris," I rolled my eyes with a snicker.
"I won it gambling back in Ireland. Turns out Angels are good gamblers, who would've thought," he murmured, eyeing me.
"Who would've thought, hm?" I smiled, leaning up and pressing another kiss on his lips. "I'm going to shower. And then we're going to bed."
"Which of those am I invited to?" Grey cooed lowly, his eyes flashing that familiar fluorescent blue.
"Bed. To sleep. I'm tired," I patted his chest and he let out a low grumble. I snickered and turned on my heel, walking towards the bathroom.
"Tantrums aren't cute, Grey," I called back over my shoulder.
"I'm always cute," he called back and I rolled my eyes, shutting the bathroom door behind me. When I turned on the light, I nearly jumped at my own appearance. I hardly recognized myself. Had I not seen my reflection since my soul was Unlocked?
My eyes were a vivid dark green, much more concentrated in color than they ever had been before. And my hair, once a dark, dull auburn, now appeared to glimmer in red whenever the light hit it. My skin was clearer than it ever had been, and somehow even my freckles looked symmetrical. My facial structure itself also seemed to have realigned. My face looked almost perfectly symmetrical. I didn't look at all like I used to. As a matter of fact, I didn't know who stared back at me through this mirror.
Feeling rather unsteady, I turned away from myself, turning on the shower head and stripping off my black bodysuit with my back to the mirror. I didn't want to look at myself anymore than I had to. I looked like someone else.
After my shower, I put on the bathrobe that had been provided and walked back into the room. Grey sat up slightly in bed, eyeing me as I walked over towards him.
"What's wrong?" He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Do I still look like me to you?" I asked, furrowing my brows as I sat on the bed next to him. Grey let out a sigh and pressed the pad of his thumb to my chin, turning my face to look at him.
"Yes. You are the same beautiful woman I fell in love with. Angelic or not, you're still you. You still look like mea bellator," he murmured, the pad of his thumb pulling my bottom lip down slightly.
"Why do I look like this?" I knitted my brows together and my eyes met his.
"It's the manifestation of your soul. Minus original sin. This is who you are, and who you've always been," he replied softly. "But you're beautiful, love. Always have been."
"I thought you said you didn't do the whole relationship thing," I murmured, my eyes flicking between his lips and his stunning eyes. A lock of his midnight hair fell across his eyes and I brushed it back behind his ear.
"I didn't," he replied.
"Well you're quite good at it," I hummed, gently pressing my lips against his again. He let out a low grumble when I pulled away. "Go shower, please. I wanna go to bed, I'm tired." He sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood up and walked over to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
I quickly brushed out my hair and my teeth, clambering into bed before Grey was done showering. Before I knew it, I was out cold. I guess I was more tired than I thought.
***
When the sun's rays first began to filter through the paned windows, I became acutely aware of a subtle tap, tap, tap coming from the end of the bed. Furrowing my brows and rubbing my eyes, I tried to sit up, but Grey's arm around my waist yanked me back.
"Grey, it's dawn," I murmured softly, pressing my lips against his forehead. He grumbled, knitting his brows into a frustrated scowl.
"5 more minutes," he slurred.
"Come on, we gotta-" I paused as I turned to look at the end of the bed. And immediately I wanted to vomit.
"We gotta what?" Grey removed his arm from my waist, sitting up slightly and pausing when he saw what I saw.
Hanging from the base of the ceiling fan, which had luckily been turned off all night, was the bloody head of a goat. Its eyes had been ripped out, and its tongue was hanging lazily out of the corner of its mouth, blood dripping from the severed neck.
That's what the tapping had been.
Blood.
"We need to leave. Immediately. Get dressed," Grey clambered out of bed, reaching up and untying the rope from the ceiling fan. He didn't even cringe as he took it down, walked over to the window and opened it, chucking it out into the cornfield.
I was stunned.
I'd never seen something so gruesome, something so innocent murdered and butchered for the sole purpose of frightening us. Whoever left that left a million questions running through my head. Why didn't they do something to me while I slept? They obviously were able to get into our room without waking either of us. How did they get into our room? Why a goat's head? Was this a warning or a threat? Was it the hobo looking for soap or a Demon, a Fallen, or even- no it couldn't have been- Lucifer?
HEY
okay, so I know I suck leaving you on a cliffhanger like this, but I'll be back later this week with the rest so you don't have to wait long.
shout out to Livie, who is from Nebraska, and told me about the bus cow. Also, her birthday is next Saturday, so if y'all wanna just comment and tell her happy birthday, that'd be cool with me :)
alright. anyways. enjoy the goat head.
-TJ