Chapter 6: An Angel

The school returned to normal in a couple of hours. During that time we sat in the classroom and talked.

“Y...you’re a WHAT?” I asked. He had already repeated it about five times, but it was taking a while to sink in.
“An Angel.” said Lou for the sixth time. I nodded slowly.
“Angels don’t exist.” I said, looking him straight in the eye. He smiled.
“Yes, they do.”
“Prove it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, aren’t Angels supposed to have wings and halos and stuff?”
“Wings, yes. Halos, no.”
“Why don’t you have wings then?”
“I do.”
“Then why can’t I see them?”
“Do you want to see them?”
“Yes.”
“Ok.”, he closed his eyes.

There was a flash of light behind him and when it cleared I saw that there were large wings protruding from his back. They were beautiful, I have to say. Pure, shining white with a kind of glow to them. They moved gently behind him and I could hear the feathers rustling. This was unbelievable. Well, it would’ve been if it weren’t for all the other weird stuff I’d already seen today. I leaned closer to where he was sitting.

“T...They’re not real.” I said, I was almost crying in pure awe. It’s not every day you meet an Angel you know. Lou just smiled at the look on my face. I looked back at Victor. He seemed completely uninterested, as if he saw things like this every day. I reached my hand out slowly and placed it on one of the wings. They were real feathers, I swear. I stroked it gently, it was really soft. I could feel it moving under my hand, pulsing. This was so weird. I moved around to his back, this had to be a trick of some sort.

“Lift up your shirt!” I said quickly; for some reason I was getting excited. He laughed but did it anyway. I placed my hand on his skin where the wings joined to his back. They really were going under his skin. I leaned as close as I possibly could until my eyes were practically on his back. There were no flaws; this was no make-up.
“Move them.” I said. The wings flapped around me and I felt a breeze; my clothing ruffled and my fringe lifted from my face. I laughed. This was amazing.

“Are we gonna go and see if everyone’s alright or are we just gonna sit here?” said Victor suddenly, he seemed irritated. Lou pulled his shirt back down, there were holes were the wings were.

“Can you fly?” I asked, and then for some reason I felt really stupid for asking. He nodded, smiling.

Victor sighed audibly.

“Can we just go? Please?” he said, standing up and straightening his shirt. I looked back at Lou. The wings were gone. He nodded.

“I’m sorry. You’re not safe anymore.” he said suddenly to no-one in particular. I blinked slowly.

“E...excuse me. What?”

“I said you’re not safe anymore. Noir knows who you are now and that you’re somehow involved with me, they’re not going to just let you go.”

“W...what can we do about it?” I asked quickly; all of this was happening too fast.

“Y...you’ll have to stay at my house, it’s the only place that’s safe for you no...”

“NO! I don’t think so! I’m going back home and someone like YOU isn’t going to stop me.” Victor shouted suddenly, storming out of the room and slamming the door. I looked out of the classroom window just in time to see him exit the school gates. I turned to face Lou.

“What should I do?” I asked. I felt so pathetic but I honestly didn’t know.
Lou smiled at me.
“Go after him if you want, he’s your friend isn’t he?”
“So are you.”
Lou smiled and I couldn’t help noticing how white his teeth were.
“Tim, I’ve only known you a couple of days, go with Victor.”
“Will I be safe?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“If I go with Victor. Will I be safe?”
“O...of course you will.” He smiled again, but this one was fake.
He took a deep breath, “Just go with Victor, I’ll clean up this mess, so don’t worry about it.”
“No.”
He looked up at me.
“...I’m coming with you.” I said. What was I thinking? Would I really choose him over my best friend?
“I...I feel safe...with you.”
He stared at me, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“O...ok.” he smiled, more to himself than me.

I just hoped I had made the right choice.