Outlaw Blues: Teratophobia

Reuel looked in the mirror with an appraising eye. Worn and faded blue jeans encased his legs like a second, soft skin. The brownish-orange tee shirt Kenneth had thrown at him this afternoon hung loose and untucked around his lean hips. The shirt was a size large for him, and what should have been short sleeves just brushed his elbows. Bringing a hand up to his chest, the fallen angel smiled slightly as he touched the blue cat design there. A small smile twisted his lips as he shook his head wryly.

Sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, he pulled on a pair of old tennis shoes he had acquired over the previous night. He had now been living with the Maccreas for over a week now. He didn’t see them often, however, as his nocturnal habits returned within days of meeting them. They usually were able to sit down and talk briefly over dinner or in the morning before school if he hadn’t fallen asleep by then.

Finishing with his shoes, Reuel rose to his feet and stood before the mirror again. He picked up a hairbrush and pulled it though his silver-blonde hair. Pulling it back into a low ponytail, he nodded his head in approval at his appearance in the mirror and finally left the small bathroom.

“Kenneth, I can’t find the lemon-pepper.”

Kiaria’s small voice called from the kitchen as the fallen angel stepped inside. He smiled, walking over to reach over her head and pluck the small container off the shelf.

“Sorry, I guess I put it back in the wrong place yesterday.”

The little girl grinned at him as she thanked him, hopping off of the chair on which she had been standing. Her hair was stilled pulled up in her accustomed twin buns that she wore daily to school though she had long since changed into a pair of periwinkle overalls and a light green shirt.

“You’re going out again today?”

Looking up from the girl, Reuel smiled at her brother. The golden blonde’s smile was warm, a light of almost too-matured understanding glowed in his green-blue eyes. The man felt a pang of recognition course though his heart again but pushed the thoughts away to be asked some other day. He nodded.

“Yes.”

“What do you do when you go out?”

At Kiaria’s question, Reuel shook his head slightly uncomfortably. The girl was watching him with her large blue-violet eyes, however, and he couldn’t help himself as he answered.

“I go looking for people who need help.”

“Like you did?”

His smile grew.

“Yes, like I needed help.”

He left unmentioned that it wasn’t the help she was referring to, nor that it wasn’t only humans he helped. Turning away, he opened a cabinet and pulled out three glasses.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Coke!”

Kenneth closed his eyes with a pained look. He sighed as he began stirring the spaghetti noodles.

“I’ll have tea. Ki, could you get out the colander for me?”

The little girl immediately dug into a low cabinet with gusto, and Reuel half laughed as he got the coke and tea from the refrigerator. He poured the drinks savoring the chatter of the children behind him. The atmosphere in the apartment was always soothing like this. He had never heard either of them raise their voices unless they were looking for something in the morning, and even that was never in anger.

Carrying the glasses to the table, Reuel sat them down on the place mats before going to get the plates and silverware. His eyebrows drew together as he continued to listen to the talk, setting the table.

“Who’s going to your parent teacher meeting next week, Kiaria?”

Reuel’s question was sudden, and by the sudden silence in the room, he knew he had struck a definite nerve. His own movements stilled as he turned his grey-violet eyes to study the two blondes. Kiaria was chewing on her bottom lip, the innocent face twisted into a frown that didn’t suit her well at all, while her brother met his eyes evenly.

“I’m going.”

Unable to help himself, Reuel straightened and crossed his arms over his chest as he cocked his head to the side slightly.

“Where are your parents anyway?”

There was another silence as Kenneth’s back straightened and the girl’s eyes widened a little more. Reuel knew he was treading on sensitive territory for them, but his concern was winning out over the guilt at their pain.

“Our mother left. Our fathers never lived with us.”

Reuel had very little need to be psychic to read the veiled message in the cold edge of the boy’s voice, and he nodded accepting that this would be discussed at a later date. The brittle silence in the air wasn’t broken as Kenneth turned to continue preparing their meal.

With a small sigh, Reuel glanced at the table and picked up one of the place settings, putting away the dishes. He smiled as he patted Kiaria on the head with a weak, apologetic smile.

“I’ll get food later. Sorry.”

Kiaria shook her head and hugged him around the waist.

“Will you tuck me in when you get home?”

Smiling at the girl, Reuel nodded. He met the boy’s eyes briefly before pulling back and heading for the door.

“It’ll be late when I get back.”

“Come back safely.”

The streets were still bustling with life when the fallen angel emerged on the street below the apartment building. Turing to the left, he set out at a slow, ambling pace, feeling comfortable for the first time in the dying light of the sun. People didn’t stare at him as they had before when he had worn his other clothing. Before living with the Maccreas, he had never been bothered by them, having kept to the deepest of the night for his wandering or rain filled days when no one would bother to pay attention to him.

His grey-violet eyes roamed over the people around him. A smile curved on his lips as he watched his one-time fellows avert their eyes in disdain or disgust as he neared them. Their reactions to his presence amused him now. Before, even more than humans, he had avoided them, unable to deal with their condemnation.

These were the one he wanted to save--these angels and the humans they guarded.

To their eyes, he had committed the worst sins possible. They were right, he admitted as he wandered into a small park a few blocks away from the apartment and claimed one of the empty swings.

Reuel closed his eyes, leaning forward to brace his shoulders against the cold metal chains. Six and a half months, a little over half a year had gone by, most of it in a daze of shock, since his fall. Behind his eyelids, he could still see the beautiful angelic smile of his last guardianship, Kaida. He had fallen in love with her innocence. There had been no planning behind it.

Like all guardians, he had begun watching over her when she was just an infant. Years had passed like days for him, and soon, he was watching a boisterous young lady. The fact that he had been with her for eighteen years had surprised him then, and he had begun to pay a little more attention to her life.

Slowly, he had realized that the little girl who used to come home to her mother with scrapes on her knees from a tumble in the playground had become beautiful. Time slowed down for the next three years as he wandered with her into college, doing his job as best he could.

Angels were not allowed to affect their humans directly. To do so was strictly forbidden by the council of angels, and he was good at following their rules. He led her away from dangerous situations, murmuring suggestions into her mind subtly, and guided her away from things that could have forced him from her side.

His work with her hadn’t been hard. She was like an angel herself—always giving of herself, spending time with orphaned children, working with her friends in school to help charities. During this time, as Kaida had attracted the love and adoration of her schoolmates and coworkers, she had also begun attracting the attentions of demons.

Reuel’s fists clenched, digging his fingernails into the flesh of his palm. He had been blinded by her, and when she had turned twenty-one, she had been dragged out with her friends to celebrate her birthday. After all his care with her, he had begun to believe that nothing could hurt her—that no one would want to hurt her. He had never been more wrong in his entire life.

Tears squeezed out of the corners of Reuel’s eyes. Thinking of that night, of his one moment of inattention, cut him like a knife. The pain was even worse than the resulting punishment for his sins had been. He had let her down, his beautiful, pure Kaida.

Well into the night, and with all the college kids well into their alcohol, Kaida had accepted a friend’s invitation to walk her home. Reuel had been beaming with pleasure. The girl was giggling and alive that night, and he had stayed back, wanting to give them room. A brief glimpse of movement from the deep shadows of an alleyway had his back bristling. The scent of demons was strong, and he had turned to face the threat to his human.

The angel had been prepared for anything, but not the smile that split the beautiful face of the red haired demon. Sharp obsidian teeth gleamed dully in the illumination from a nearby streetlight. A low roll of laughter rolled from the demon’s throat like cracked ice.

“Love blinds.”

The laughter had risen to a screeching cackle as the red hair disappeared once more into the shadows. As Reuel had straightened from his defensive position, a terrified scream pierced the air. He hadn’t thought for an instant before dashing down the darkened street, his pulse thundering though his veins.

It was his girl, his Kaida. By the time he had reached her side, the boy she had been walking with lay dead on the sidewalk, blood pooling around his body from the deep slash across his throat. Rage had boiled though the angel’s body and mind. The girl was pinned beneath a large man. Only a second passed as Reuel dropped his cloak of intangibility and launched himself at the man.

Raising his head to study the stars now littering the twilight sky, the fallen angel shivered. He couldn’t remember what had happened after that. Vaguely, he could still feel blood dripping from his broken and swollen hands, a brief glimpse of the terror on Kaida’s face, and then the emissary of the council flanked by two armed soldiers. They had led him away in chains, and he had never seen his little girl again.

And then I fell, Reuel thought to himself wryly. He smirked slightly shaking his head. That was a lie, of course. He knew well enough that he had fallen the instant he had truly started to love Kaida.

With a shake of his head, Reuel stood up from the swing. All of the children had already left the park already, leaving him alone under the rising moon. Finally, it was dark enough for him to be comfortable in the city’s streets. Tucking his hands into the deep pockets of his jeans, he set out once again on the streets deeper into the heart of the town.

Angels were few in this place now. They avoided him during the day each more or less concerned about their own lambs and not wanting to be associated with a fallen angel. Now they met him in the eye as he passed them on the streets as though daring him to come near their wards. Shaking his head slightly, he nodded his head to the humans and their unseen bodyguards.

Arriving finally in the seedier section of town, he stepped into a club alive with humans dancing and drinking in the smoke and bright lights. He made his way to the back of the room, settling into a deep booth with a sigh. There were numerous young people here—mostly older teens and young adults. Their good mood filled the building with an energy that drowned the rest of Reuel’s sorrows. He watched the crowds ebb and surge on the dance floor but spotted only a small handful of angels watching over their humans from a small alcove. Occasionally he could feel their eyes on him, but he ignored the irritation sensation content to merely enjoy himself.

“Wanna dance?”

Looking up, Reuel found himself staring at a buxom young brunette with too much lipstick and not enough clothing. He smiled though easing from the booth to follow her to the dance floor. He was drawn into the group of dancers with abandon, and he soon lost himself amid the pulse of the rhythm.

Several songs later, the ice-blonde stumbled from the floor panting as he made his way to the bar ordering a water. He easily caught the bottle that was thrown at him and drank gratefully. The young brunette had joined him, and he handed her the bottle, half full.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Bethanie. You?”

“Reuel.”

“What?”

The fallen angel felt a small blush cross his cheeks at her laughter. She shook her head, placing the now empty bottle onto the counter before dragging him back though the milling crowd of people into a corner under the angel’s alcove. He glanced up briefly to find a raven-haired beauty watching him closely. His grey-violet eyes widened slightly. This one was gorgeous, and that was rare to see outside the council or their personal guards.

Reuel’s attention was pulled back to Bethanie as she grabbed his arm.

“This is Reuel, everyone! This is Kaye, Cat, Ashantii, and Drew!”

The group cheered his arrival with a raise of their glasses. Kaye and Cat tugged the brunette into the booth between them, and Reuel found himself sitting next to the boy, Ashantii, on the other side of the table. The three girls had their heads together giggling over something, but Reuel’s gaze was once more tracing around the room.

There were seven demons circulating in the club as well, and it was no wonder the angels above were so on guard tonight. That was a large number for such a small club. None of them seemed to have any interest in the small group he was in, however, which was lucky for him. He had no real desire to have to face a demon tonight.

His attention was recalled suddenly as he was pulled from the booth again and dragged back to the dance floor. Hours passed in a whirl of sound and light, and Reuel found himself dancing with all three girls and at one point, even with Ashantii.

“Ugh! I’ve got to go everyone.”

Bethanie’s face was downcast as she looked at her watch during one of their breaks from the floor. The others ribbed her about her curfew, but they were friends enough to follow as she made her way to the door. Reuel was about to turn away when Cat and Kaye grabbed his arms winking. He was pulled out of the club with them, and he was esconed between the giggling girls.

“Do you come here often?”

“It was my first time, but I really like it.”

“What do you think of Bethanie? Isn’t she just a hottie?”

“Cat!”

The smaller blonde girl laughed sprightly poking Reuel in the arm. He felt their happiness and found himself smiling as well.

“Well, isn’t she? Isn’t she?”

“Absolutely beautiful.”

Reuel was please to see the girl blush with embarrassment. Kaye peeked around Drew and ruffled the girl’s hair playfully. A few blocks away, Drew and Cat disappeared into an apartment. Another short distance and Kaye said her goodbye kissing both of her friends on the cheek.

During this break, the white-blonde man glanced behind them to see the raven-haired angel following a short ways back, glaring daggers into his back. Reuel sighed shaking his head slightly in sorrow.

“Hey, Reuel, where do you live?”

“Mm… I live about ten blocks in the other direction.”

“Really? I’m so sorry! I should have asked earlier!”

“It’s alright. I wanted to make sure you got back home safely.”

Reuel reassured Bethanie with a warm smile. Ashantii walked beside them quietly, and Reuel found himself curious as to which of these children, for neither of them could have been more than twenty, was being guarded so closely. Less than a block later, Bethanie stopped in front of her building.

“I had a great time tonight. I wish we could have stayed longer. Maybe I’ll see you there again?”

“I would enjoy that.”

With a final wave, the girl ran up the stairs and into the building, leaving the two men to stand in an awkward silence. Glancing over, Reuel studied the boy beside him with an appraising gaze. He was tall--about an inch shorter than the fallen angel was himself, with dark brown hair that looked almost black in the darkness. Good looking hardly described him. The boy was gorgeous and knew how to show off his body. He wore black jeans that clung to his legs just enough to hint at the firm muscles lying beneath the soft material, and the black and red shirt bore fishnet across the abdomen and down the sleeves.

The inspection was brought up short when Reuel met the boy’s narrowed blue eyes. Ashantii turned quickly with a small wave.

“I don’t need you to walk me home. See you later.”

“See you.”

Reuel let the boy walk away and then turned his head slightly to peer at the boy’s guardian angel who had finally drawn up beside him. Without a word, Reuel faded from human sight and began to walk slowly after the dark haired boy, pacing the guardian angel.

“You don’t like me.”

It wasn’t a question, and Reuel smiled slightly at the narrowing of the angel’s beautiful eyes.

“I don’t.”

Nodding, Reuel accepted the answer. They followed the boy in silence as he backtracked down the street towards the club, turning off onto a side street about halfway back. The fallen angel could feel the angel’s animosity radiating against his side, but he didn’t want to leave. Something about this young man was pulling him to follow.

“Does he often walk alone at night?”

The beautiful angel shot Reuel a disdainful look before stepping up his pace. Sighing, the blonde followed closely.

“Does he ever run into trouble?”

“Would you go away?”

“Am I to take that as a ‘yes’?”

“No, now leave, fallen. You’re going to bring trouble.”

Reuel’s lips tightened slightly. It was true that demons found fallen angels a desirable target and that any humans around would be fair game as well, but none of the demons from the club had even looked interested in him. He shook his head.

From up ahead, the sound of Ashantii’s footsteps disappeared, and both the angel and fallen tensed. The boy’s guardian sprinted down the street after him, and Reuel followed only a few feet behind. The scene that met his eyes had the blonde clenching his fist angrily.

Three men, each brawnier and taller than the slight boy, had backed Ashantii up against the brick wall of an office building. His blue eyes were wide even as he tried to maintain a stoic expression. One of the men had his hand against the wall beside the boy’s head and was leaning in close as the other two laughed loudly, apparently drunk by the smell of alcohol permeating the air.

“What’s this? A pretty little fag?”

Reuel watched as the boy’s guardian angel trembled in impotent rage. According to the Council’s rules, he could do nothing for the boy now, and the fallen angel was beginning to sense the cold thread weaving up his spine that signaled the approaching death of a human.

The man leaning over Ashantii pulled a wad of money from his pocket and waved it in the boy’s face.

“Want to play, fag? I’ll show you a sweet time—have you screaming for more before I’m though.”

“I’m not a whore.”

Shrugging, the man pocketed the cash and slammed the boy into the wall with a fierce kiss. His hands quickly overpowered the boy’s struggling and began to delve beneath his clothing.

“’Shantii.”

Reuel’s attention was recalled from the stomach-wrenching scene to the boy’s angel. The raven haired beauty was rising onto the balls of his feet. Walking over the blonde angel laid a hand on the shaking shoulder.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

He didn’t need to hear the angel’s response. What he felt now was what Reuel had felt before.

“You love him. You got close, and woke up one morning realizing that the child you guarded had become more important than anything in the world, but then you remember that you’re his guardian angel. You can’t love him. It’s forbidden.”

Reuel gritted his teeth at the boy’s cries for help that would not come. He was running out of time.

“You knew that if you went against the council, you would be cast down and he would be killed. It’s their laws; we follow because we have to.”

There was a sharp tearing of fabric, and Reuel glanced over to see two men pinning Ashantii to the ground as the third one ripped his shirt up the front with a lewd laugh.

“You know that if you help him now he’d die anyway, and you would be forced to live the rest of you life with the guilt and the pain of knowing that no matter what happened to him, you couldn’t save him.”

The fallen angel emphasized the last three words, and the raven haired angel looked sharply over at him, his eyes wide with anguish. His eyes turned back to the boy and then to Reuel again.

“Save him. Please, save him!”

Reuel’s face fell into an easy grin. He stepped back from the angel before solidifying. The first man, kneeling in between Ashantii’s pinned legs, never knew what hit him as the fallen angel kicked him hard in the face. There was a loud crunch of bone, and the man’s short scream died as he hit the ground and lay still.

The other two men looked in shock from their motionless, bleeding friend to the lean blonde, smiling down at them with a warmth that never touched his grey-violet eyes. The boy was quickly forgotten as they launched themselves at the new threat.

The fallen angel’s expression never changed as he trounced the two humans easily. He glanced down at them as they lay moaning on the sidewalk near unconsciousness and knelt beside the first man to touch his throat. The faint flutter of pulse under his fingers brought a sigh of relief to his lips, and his eyes turned over to where the boy still lay, curled on his side, sobbing weakly.

With a compassion that had never touched him as he had attacked the three men, Reuel walked over and scooped the boy into his arms rocking him gently. Sorrow masked his expression, he carefully refastened the boy’s jeans and covered his torso with the remains of the ripped shirt.

Glancing up, the fallen angel found the boy’s protector kneeling beside them, his insubstantial hand hovering over the boy’s hair. As the angel looked up, Reuel’s stomach clenched at the devastation on the beautiful face. He stroked the soft hair as Ashantii clung to him, sobbing still.

“Is this how it should be, angel?”

Reuel’s voice was soft with kindness, causing the angel to flinch as though struck.

“Should we watch as the ones we care for are hurt? Should we be forbidden to care for them?”

The white-blonde sighed and shook his head slightly as the boy began to hiccup in his arms.

“You love him. Don’t worry. I have no one to tell, nor would I. Maybe at one time, but at one time, I also never thought that I could fall in love with a human.”

“Fallen, why did you make me beg? Why didn’t you save him before this?”

The angel’s voice with filled with recriminations as he watched the fallen angel comforting the human boy. Reuel arched an eyebrow.

“Why? Because I had to know if you loved him truly.”

“And if I hadn’t?”

The raven-haired angel’s question was sharp with anger and pain, and while the blonde knew it wasn’t entirely directed at him, the question raised hurt him deeply. His face fell into a studied frown as Ashantii stilled in his arms in a faint.

“I don’t know.”

His words were nearly a whisper, and he didn’t look up to meet the beautiful angel’s hard expression. Rising to his feet with the boy in his arms, the fallen angel sighed softly as his mind began to churn over the question posed by the angel. His head was held low as he started to walk away from the boy’s fallen attackers.

“Show me where he lives.”

The soft command was the last words either of the angels spoke to each other.

***
End Chapter Teratophobia
***

Last | Home | Next