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ofangelsanddevils · 1 year

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Illusion ch 14 Of trains and trestles

It was Saturday morning and the ringing of her cell phone startled Liana out of the dream she was having about May. In her dream, her sister had told her something important but the loud ringing caused her to forget what May had said. Liana was furious about it too. “Yes!” She practically shouted, as she answered the phone.

“Hey Liana, are you okay? Did I wake you?” It was Scott and his voice was filled with concern. “Yeah, but I’m okay. The ringing startled me awake.” She answered. “What’s up Scott?”

“I need to talk to you today, Liana.” He replied.

“Sure, it’s your turn to be on duty, anyway, at least I think it is, unless I've lost track of the timing.” Liana said trying not to be upset about still being treated like a helpless person.

“I’ll see you here in a little while, then we can talk about whatever you want.” In fact she realized that he should’ve been there already, as Elodie was already gone. Elodie had left while Liana was still asleep.

“I know it’s my turn, and I know I’m running a bit late. I was actually hoping though that we could go somewhere else to talk instead of being at your house today.” Scott said.

“Why?” Liana questioned.

“I need to talk to you somewhere else, some place where we won’t be disturbed.” He answered, not revealing his motivation for asking for a private location.

“Umm, Okay. Do you have a place in mind?” Liana asked her mind already racing to conclusions about the implications of being alone with Scott again. They’d had an interesting interaction yesterday, when they were alone together after the attack. She feared that he wanted to talk about her behavior and how they needed to distance themselves from each other.

“Actually, I do have a place in mind. I remember you telling me about Three Oaks Canyon with the train trestle and I would like to see it today. Plus, I figure that we could talk there without any interruptions.” Scott suggested.

“Okay, what time do you want to pick me up?” Liana responded, hiding her fears about whether or not he would want to lecture her on having kissed him.

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d meet me there at the foot of the trail, say in about an hour? I’ve got some things to do and I don’t have the time to pick you up, if that’s okay with you?” Scott questioned.

Liana couldn’t believe her luck. She'd be free for a little while longer with no bodyguard. She was so elated by this that she didn’t even think to question Scott about the lack of supervision. If he didn’t think that she’d be in danger then who was she to remind him of his duty.

“Sure. That sounds good to me!” Liana said, happiness spilling into her voice.

She hung up the phone and got out of bed. It didn’t take her long to get ready. Liana took a quick shower and found some clean clothes. Thank goodness her dad had thought to do the laundry again, as Liana hadn’t remembered to do the laundry this week.

Liana figured the day might be colder in the canyon, but she decided to dress in a short sleeve red t-shirt and jeans with sandals. She put on some lip gloss and eye shadow.

For breakfast, Liana had some yoghurt mixed with granola that she found in one of the cupboards. She needed to remind her dad to go to the store more often. It was funny that he would remember to do the laundry or to go to the store but he never did both chores in the same week.

Liana grabbed a thin pink jacket on her way out the door as it would come in handy if the weather turned cold. The walk to the school was easy and she was at the bottom of the trail to Oak Creek Canyon that started behind the high school long before Scott arrived. It was a bit chilly so she was glad that she'd brought a jacket. She put it on.

Because she had to wait, she found her thoughts stuck on repeat. "What does he want to talk about? Maybe he's going to tell me that he's sick of babysitting me, and doesn't want to be friends anymore, because I simply can't stop throwing myself at him? Perhaps he wants a secluded place, so that I won't make a big scene?" Her mind was going faster than an Indy 500 car, racing through all the potential reasons Scott would need to talk to her in a secluded place.

Finally, to stop her feverish thoughts, she started collecting fall leaves to pass the time. She was sitting on the grass and was so focused on the different colors of the leaves that she was lining up, that she didn’t notice when Scott walked up.

“You’ve got an interesting collection there.” He smirked.

Liana nearly jumped out of her skin. “You surprised me. I didn’t see your car drive up.” She replied.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to catch you off guard." Scott laughed.

Liana watched him as he answered in a nonchalant manner. As she did Liana realized that every time she saw him it was like seeing him for the first time. He was so amazing. Liana noticed how the late morning sun fell on his hair and reflected off of it. He was too gorgeous. He noticed her watching him, and he gave her a mischievous smile that nearly stopped her heart for a moment.

"Are you ready?" Liana asked, suddenly self-conscious about the fact that he was staring at her. She wanted to keep watching him, but decided that by turning her head away she would be far safer, and less likely to make a fool of herself. They had a strange friendship. She always wanted more, and he was so bent on keeping her at arm's length.

"I'm ready for anything you got." He reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her to her feet. "Lead the way!" For a split second, Liana was surprised by his gesture, but then she decided to go with it. So what if he rarely chose to hold her hand. Today was a rarity, nothing more, and they were friends after all. Liana gripped his hand tightly but it stayed cool to the touch, for which she was grateful.

They started up the trail. The hike to the train trestle that spanned the canyon wasn't a long one. They passed under the trees that lined the path and crunched through all of the leaves that had fallen to the ground. There were still some leaves on the trees which created a mild dappling effect on Scott’s blonde hair as they passed under them. They chatted about the weather, and as many other safe topics that Liana could think of as her fears of what he might say continued to linger in the back of her mind.

"There it is!” Liana said eager to drop Scott's hand because despite the warm morning, his hand had remained cold to the touch. The trestle spanned a deep gorge and was a bit of a jaunt across the grassy meadow that they'd entered. The meadow was full of dead and dying weeds and grasses, and large grey boulders scattered randomly throughout. As Liana walked through it, the weeds made attempts to grab at the bottoms of her jeans, and scratched at the sides of her feet where her sandals offered no protection.

The trestle was old and had probably been painted red at one point in the past but it had weathered to a gun-metal gray in most places, except for where students had spray painted or scratched their names onto it. The train tracks that led from the trestle were black with age and the cross ties were rotting away. Liana walked a few yards closer to the trestle through the field, and onto the train tracks. Once on the tracks she could smell the faint hint of the grease laden wood and of iron mixing together in the sun. She gazed along the tracks to where they crossed the ravine and noticed how the abandoned nature of this place made her feel quite isolated even though she wasn’t alone.

It was then that she realized that Scott hadn't followed her into the meadow. She turned around to see where he was. He was still far behind her, at the edge of the tree line.

"Are you coming?” Liana shouted. “There’s a great view right over there.” She yelled as she indicated with her hand and pointed in the direction that she was now looking. When she turned back towards Scott to check on his progress, she almost screamed. He was standing right behind her on the train tracks now.

"How’d you get over here so fast?" Liana asked. She hadn't heard him come up behind her. Also there was no sign that he’d run across the field while her back had been momentarily turned away from him.

“I’ll check it out in a moment.” He said. “I have something I want to talk to you about first.”

“Oh…Right.” Liana tried hard to calm her breathing. She could definitely feel the panic rising from her stomach into her throat. She hoped whatever he was going to say wouldn’t turn out to be something about how he didn’t want to see her anymore. Liana prepared herself for the possibility of bad news.

But he surprised her with the following;: "You want me don't you?" Scott smiled, a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Liana gulped and dropped her head down to contemplate the crosstie she was standing on. Her eyes traced the old lines of the wood. Of course she wanted him. This was not at all what she'd expected. If Liana could breathe, she would've told him that she wanted him. He sensed it and he pulled her in close to him.

"But yesterday you said you only wanted to be friends." Liana whispered.

"Well, perhaps I've changed my mind." Scott said, in a confident manner.

Liana couldn’t believe her good fortune. She let her defenses down, and she put her arms around him as he pulled her even closer and kissed her firmly on the lips. Liana had been dreaming of kissing him again and it was nothing like yesterday's kisses. Scott's lips were supposed to be warm and soft. Instead they were cold, rough and hard. She pulled away for a moment to stare into his eyes. Something was wrong with them. His eyes weren't right. Liana didn’t know why she hadn't noticed it before on the trail.

As Liana stared into his eyes wondering what exactly was off about them, it suddenly dawned on her that they weren't the right color. Scott's eyes had always been a bright blue but now they were a slate gray. As she watched they were growing darker by the moment. She tried to pull back a bit more. As she did, Scott grabbed a hold of her upper arms, just below her shoulders. The light jacket she was wearing didn’t protect them from the hard grasp of his hands.

"Let go. You're hurting me!" Liana yelled as she tried to twist out of his grasp. His hands continued to clamp down on her arms, as he tightened his grip.

“What the hell are you doing?” Liana’s voice broke with fear and anger. "My job." Scott sneered as he started pulling her towards the train trestle bridge.

Liana tried to brace her feet on the railroad ties to keep him from dragging her along, but she only succeeded in losing her sandals and in scratching her feet up on the crossties of the train track. She could feel slivers entering her feet. And she cursed herself for wearing sandals.

He pulled her closer to the trestle that bridged the canyon.

"What’re you doing?" Liana yelled, frustrated that she was about as helpless as a fly in a spider’s web. "Stop!” She yelled as she watched his face unsure of what was going on. She was fighting him as best as she could but he was much more powerful than she was.

Scott had cruelty written across his face and his eyes were black and burning. And two great black wings appeared at his back. Liana felt the violent shock of realization as she recognized where she knew those eyes and that face from. It was the Demon, and she was all alone with him.

"There's no one around to save you, Liana.” he mocked, as he pulled her closer to the canyon rim. Quinn had been right all along. Scott was the Demon after all! He'd hidden it well, but in the end her love for him had blinded her to this fact.

“Don't do this!" Liana pleaded hoping that some spark of kindness would manifest itself. The Demon kept dragging her towards the bridge. He pulled her kicking and screaming onto the trestle and out to the middle of it. She could see the considerable drop. Liana’s head started to reel, and her fear of heights threatened to overwhelm any senses that she had left.

Liana sobbed. "How can you do this? Please let me go, and I'll never speak to you again. I'll leave you alone. I’ll do anything you ask me to do."

“Your promises sound so nice but it doesn't matter anyway. I can't let you live." the Demon replied. That’s when she realized that he was going to throw her off the bridge.

"Wait, how did you manage to be both the Demon and Scott in the locker room?" Liana wondered aloud.

"We Demons have our ways!” The Demon laughed. “That's funny, you’re about to die and that’s what your puny human brain comes up with?”

Liana shook her head, realizing that she would get nowhere with the Demon. She hoped her guardian angel would come to her rescue this time. She wondered offhandedly however, if there was a limit to the amount of rescues one could receive from their angel? She knew it was all in her head, but she imagined her guardian angel reviewing her rescue punch card and saying. “Sorry, you’ve used up your card. No more rescues this year.” In the end it didn't matter as her death was imminent.

Liana went limp in surrender. The Demon noticed when the fight went out of her. "You see, you know I'm right, and besides it doesn't seem right that I should let you live after I killed your sister." Liana glared back at him as what he said resonated in her mind.

"Wait, you killed May? You bastard!" Liana tried to kick at him, but he merely readjusted his hold on her, turning her to face him and holding her close so that she had no ability to move.

Then the Demon laughed and with one great push he threw her off the bridge. "Goodbye, Liana!" As she fell backwards she watched him disappear in a cloud of black smoke.

Liana was falling to her death. She hoped that when she hit the ground she wouldn't feel anything, but Liana braced for the pain anyway. Liana found it ironic that her life didn’t flash before her eyes, but that was probably because it was being cut far too short.

Suddenly a bright flurry of feathers and arms surrounded Liana. She'd been caught and her guardian angel and she tumbled over a few times in the air as they fell toward the ground. She was falling too fast and although he slowed their fall, they still landed hard at the bottom of the ravine. They landed on some vegetation which cushioned the hard landing, but they were still a tangled mess, with Liana awkwardly sprawled face down on top of her angel.

They lay motionless for a few minutes. Her guardian angel had never stuck around this long. She'd never seen him up close before, and it was all she could do to keep her curiosity at bay, hoping that his shine would lessen so she could see what he looked like.

"Thanks for saving me!." Liana said as soon as she collected her thoughts and her breath.

"No problem, now would you mind getting off of me, Liana?" He said, his voice muffled.

"Oh, sorry!" Liana stood up in a rather clumsy manner. As she stood she could feel her body shriek out in complaint. Liana had a lot of bruises from yesterday’s attack and even more were sure to develop now. Liana did a quick self-evaluation. Her hair was a mess, pieces of leaves and twigs clung to it. Her feet were bare and covered in scratches and cuts. A few of her cuts were still bleeding and her clothing was torn and dirty.

After righting herself she reached out a hand to help her angel up from where he’d landed. He didn’t need her help as he quickly and gracefully stood up in one fluid motion.

"Sorry that you have to keep saving me, I didn't mean..." Liana stopped speaking as his brightness lessened enough that she could see his face.

"What kind of a sick joke is this, Scott! First you're the Demon throwing me off the bridge then you're my angel saving me." She screamed, her face turning a dark shade of red.

She was angry, and since he seemed somewhat weakened after the crash, she figured that now would be the best time to attack, before he turned back into the Demon and tried to kill her again. She ran at him and started hitting him with her fists, and kicking him as hard as she could in the shins. He simply grabbed her arms, turned her around and held her with her back against him and her arms crossed in front of her so that she couldn't pummel him anymore.

"Let go, Demon!" Liana yelled, and struggled unsuccessfully to free herself.

"I'm not Azren, I'm Scott, Azren was the one that threw you off the bridge. I would never hurt you, Liana."

"If you are two separate people then why do you two look the same?" Liana questioned, her voice full of suspicion.

"That's kind of a long story. I can tell you if you promise not to attack me anymore." He said.

"I thought angels were invincible." Liana mocked. “Now let go of me!” She said as she tried to free herself again. It was no use. His grip on her was like iron.

"We aren't invincible. I'm still trying to recover from that horrific fall, and I don't need you to give me any more bruises than I already have. Promise me that you won’t attack me, and I’ll let you go." Scott said into her ear.

Liana fought the urge to let his voice in her ear side track her. She was still angry and confused, and she wanted answers. She would not let his proximity affect her.

"Okay, but only if you promise to tell me everything, all that stuff you've been hiding. I want the whole story, the stuff that happened at your last school, how you managed to become an angel, and why the Demon looks exactly like you. Everything!" Liana challenged.

"Fair enough, you probably deserve to be told the whole story, even though it'll be breaking a ton of angel rules." Scott sighed.

"I bet you have tons of angel rules, and I don't want to know all about those. I just need to understand the things that are in relation to me." Liana's voice was threaded with anger and distrust.

"Fine, but if you expect me to tell you anything, then you have to promise to behave. Am I safe to let go of you yet?" He said.

Liana thought for a moment; "Yes, I won't hit you."

He let her go. Liana stepped back from him then turned to face him. She felt a slight twinge of guilt. Scott was pretty beaten up. Liana noticed that there were several scratches on his arms and a few bruises. Perhaps, she’d inflicted some of them when she’d attacked him only moments earlier.

His eyes were tired and his wings weren't too pristine either. His hair that he usually kept neatly tied back had come loose and was hanging in his face. Liana also noticed self-consciously that there were several rips in his gray t-shirt where she could see through to his well-defined torso. Liana suddenly felt as if she were profaning her guardian angel, even at the same time that she was aware that it was still Scott, and that all her normal feelings for him were resurfacing.

"Give me a minute while I set myself straight." Scott said as he proceeded to stretch his wings out and fix the feathers that were sticking out in odd directions. It took only a few moments until his wings were less disheveled, then he folded them up against his back.

"I didn’t break anything when I landed on you, did I?” Liana said, worried about him.

"No, but you knocked the wind out of me and you did manage to add a few extra bruises after the fall.” He grimaced.

“Sorry." Liana said, her voice small and guilt-ridden.

“Don’t worry, I’ll recover. In the meantime we’d better get out of this chasm before someone comes along." Then he walked over to her and put his arms around her.

"What’re you doing?” Liana gulped remembering how only moments before she'd been in a similar situation, and how it had ended badly.

"The fastest way out is to fly. It'd take at least forty-five minutes to an hour to hike out of here." He said while using an arm to gesture to the fairly steep canyon walls, “unless, you have a better suggestion?”

Liana searched for a way out of this awkward position, "Are you sure you can fly us both out of here?"

Scott laughed. "I'm an excellent flyer, I promise! We only crashed earlier because you were falling too fast, and there was little I could do to stop your momentum but to fall with you. You aren't too much the worse for wear, I might add. I did save your life after all."

She was stricken when she realized her ingratitude. He laughed and said;

"It's okay, you didn't offend me."

Then before Liana could say anything else he unfurled his wings, placed his hands firmly around her waist and flew them up to the top of the canyon in a matter of a few moments. They landed softly. He was right, he was a great flyer. Liana was acutely aware of the way he felt against her. His body was warm like holding a blanket fresh from the dryer. His warmth was soaking into her once again, just as it had when they’d been in the garden at the club. Liana realized that she was staring into his eyes even as he released his hold on her. His eyes were the right color, blue with silver highlights. He noticed that she was staring so to cover herself, she let go of him and muttered;

"Your eyes are different than his." She said.

"Yes, his eyes changed when he fell. Matt was my twin brother, and we haven't been human for seventy years. Pardon me, I should say I, but sometimes I forget that he's fallen. I still think of him as my brother. We were born and raised in Los Angeles and Matt and I were happy kids, believe it or not, I was usually the ringleader, and he was the follower. Everything was pretty much perfect until we were killed in that car accident. Mom, dad and he all died and I went into foster care.”

"And then you died in the fire?" Liana said suddenly making the connection.

“Yes, sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth, but I had to stay undercover. Raphael was my guardian angel and he took care of me. Then later he let me die so that I could become a guardian angel as well. When I got to heaven I found out that Matt had already been made a guardian angel.” Scott said.

"Does that happen a lot, I mean, people being made into guardian angels?" Liana wondered.

"It all depends on how many guardians are needed. Sometimes one angel can guard multiple people, and sometimes it is on a one-to-one ratio as the person being guarded requires more attention." Scott said.

"Like me?" Liana smiled, making a joke.

"Exactly, like you.” Scott laughed. ”Also, angels have been disappearing during the last few years and so we’re all carrying a heavier load, which is why I've been nearly too late several times."

"What do you mean by nearly too late?" Liana said.

"Well I should've been here earlier to stop Matt, I mean Azren. If I had then you wouldn’t know about my secret." Scott sighed.

"Oh." Liana said. "Though I'm happy that I now know the truth about you."

"It's not such a big deal I guess. It'll be easier for me to keep an eye on you. We won't have to fight about me being your bodyguard. I've never had so much of a challenge as I have had with guarding you." He said.

"Have you always been my guardian?" Liana wondered.

"No, Matt was both yours, and May's guardian angel." Scott replied shaking his head when he saw Liana's face.

"He was our guardian! That's crazy! What happened to him? How did he fall?" Liana probed.

"He killed your sister, May, the person he was supposed to be keeping watch over." Scott hung his head.

"Yeah, based on the way you, I mean he was talking I figured that he’d done that." Liana admitted.

"He told you he killed her?" Scott sounded surprised.

"Yes, he did." She admitted. "How did you take it when you found out that he was fallen?"

"I was devastated. I wanted to talk to him, to ask him why. To say goodbye before they stripped him of his wings, but I was on an assignment, and when I got back he'd already been cast out of heaven. The hardest part is that I hate him for leaving me, and I can't forgive him for what he did to your sister. As I've watched over you, I've seen the pain that he's caused you. I shouldn't hate him, especially since he got what he deserved but I can't help it. I want him to suffer. I want him to leave you alone. I want..." Scott suddenly went quiet for a moment.

"What do you want?" Liana prompted

"It doesn't matter. It'll never happen. I'll never save him, he'll never be redeemed and I'll be alone." Scott said in sadness.

"But I thought heaven was a spectacular place, I mean, there are tons of people there, all of them are happy and everything. Why would it be so lonely?" Liana asked.

"As a guardian angel, we don't have a lot of free time. Especially these days, and we don't get a vacation and, so I don't spend a whole lot of time in heaven. All those pictures of angels sitting on clouds relaxing are quite misleading." Scott laughed in acknowledgement.

"You don't like being a guardian angel?" She asked.

"No, don't get me wrong, I do like it. I like knowing that I keep people safe. It's a difficult job and a pretty lonely one too. What am I saying? Don't listen to me, I'm complaining is all. I miss Matt. It's so hard to see him trying to kill you, and to remember what he used to be, and to know if I’m going to stop him I’ll probably have to kill him someday. Anyway, the real problem at hand is getting us back to my house.” Scott said.

“I guess we’ll have to walk.” Liana proffered. Scott contemplated her for a moment, sizing her up, then seemed to make up his mind.

“Screw it! We’re going to have to fly home, as I don’t feel like walking all the way, and you certainly don’t look up to it. We can’t stay here. What if Azren decides to come back? I’m in no shape to fight him off at the moment.” He was already walking toward Liana to encircle her in his arms again. Liana did want to fly with him again, but at the same time it wasn’t easy being close to him, especially now that she knew he wasn’t an ordinary guy anymore, now that she understood why he only wanted to be friends. Not to mention her mild fear of heights, so she found herself backing up.

“What’re you afraid of? Didn’t I fly us quite well a moment ago?” He was slightly hurt by her reaction.

“Yes, you did, I'm worried that maybe I’d be too much of a burden for a longer flight.” Liana said grasping at straws.

“That’s ridiculous, now c’mon.” Before she could say anything else, Scott picked her up in his arms and they flew off.

They were above the school and heading towards Scott's house before Liana could really catch her breath. Flying with Scott was amazing. She could feel the movement of his wings as they bore the two of them on their way. Liana had been on an airplane before but there was an exhilaration that came from flying above the treetops of her town and seeing all the things below without a pane of glass and a narrow window through which to see it. She found herself catching her breath at the panorama below her of the orange and red leafed trees with the houses and streets nestled between them.

The flight was over far too soon for Liana's liking. They landed softly in Scott’s backyard, and before he let go of her, she got the distinct impression that he was savoring the moment of holding her close to him. But that was probably her imagination. He folded his wings against his body in a neat manner and before anyone could see them he quickly let her into the backdoor of his house that opened into the kitchen.

Scott’s aunt must’ve heard Liana and he coming in, because she came bustling into the kitchen almost as soon as they stepped inside. She took one look at Scott’s wings that were still plainly visible, and at Liana standing next to him and swore under her breath. Liana made a move to step in front of Scott, in case she needed to defend him from his aunt. Scott sensed her intention.

“It’s okay, Liana. My aunt knows. She’s actually an angel too. She’s the angel in charge of the heavenly archives.” Scott proffered.

“What do you mean, Scott, by showing your wings to Liana? And telling her that I’m an angel as well? I thought we talked about this. You weren’t supposed to reveal yourself to her. You may have compromised the whole investigation into what’s been going on down here, and in heaven.” Doc Liz said her voice clearly angry.

“Sorry, there wasn’t anything I could do about it, Liz. You see Matt, I mean Azren threw her off of a bridge and I had to save her, but when I did, we tumbled a bit and she landed on top of me and it broke my concentration.” Scott said, making his apologies.

She shook her head, evidently not happy about the situation; "I guess it can’t be helped. Well, Liana honey, now you know our big secret. You can’t tell anyone about this. It’s important that you don’t. We’re desperate to discover the culprit behind these attacks on you.”

Now all of Doc Liz’s questioning while Liana was in her last therapy session made a whole lot more sense. She’d been delving to see what she could find out about who was doing this to Liana, and it also made sense to her now why she'd wanted Liana to keep her distance from Scott. Liana and Scott weren’t actually equals, he was an angel, and Liana had no business falling for an angel. Doc Liz was trying to protect her. Liana realized that she’d misjudged his aunt.

“You must’ve been so scared when you were thrown off the bridge. I’m sorry that Scott wasn’t there to stop it. He was on another mission.” With that she reached over and pulled Liana in for a hug to comfort her, as if she were a lost child. Liana found herself wondering how she could’ve so misunderstood her counselor.

“I won’t tell anyone.” Liana found herself promising. It was nice knowing that she had extra help on her side especially since the help was of the angelic kind.

“You’re trying to figure out who’s doing this, have you managed to find out any information about it yet, Doc Liz?” Liana asked.

Doc Liz smiled. “Please, you can call me Liz, now that we don’t have to pretend that I’m your doctor anymore.” Then she sighed and threw her hands in the air.

“Not a thing, which is why we’ve been trying to keep a closer eye on you.” Liz said. “That’s why it was decided to have Scott be in class with you for a while to see if by following you around and hanging out with you more he could figure out what was going on.”

“What’re they after, anyway? I can’t possibly be that important in the grand scheme of things.” Liana shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s a long story but I'll give you the short version. My spouse, the angel, Raphael disappeared nearly fifty years ago when he was investigating the disappearance of another guardian angel. I was devastated of course, especially when I found out that someone had tampered with the records. The records that I was in charge of and that I should’ve been protecting. I felt horrible, I wanted to find out who did it, but I was never able to get a whole lot of help after the first few months of Raphael’s disappearance. There wasn’t any information to help us determine what'd happened. After a while I ended up being the only one who was still searching for answers. Then eventually I was able to convince both Scott and Matt to work with me to find out who’d been doing this. Later, unfortunately Matt was turned by whoever is behind all of this.”

“I feel terrible about it too, as I wasn’t able to stop him from throwing his calling away. If I'd seen the signs of his disaffection I could’ve prevented him from killing your sister as well. I feared after he’d done it that the records would’ve been changed, and indeed when I reviewed them they’d been changed. I can’t get over the fact that someone has that much power available to them and I can’t figure out who’s doing this. I should be able to find out, I’m better than this.” Liz said throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“You were married to Raphael?” Liana wondered aloud.

“Not in that way, angels don’t marry, but we were the equivalent of a married couple. So I guess that’s the easiest way to put it if you want to define it, and I miss him terribly. Once I find the people behind this, I'll make them pay for it. They stole my love from me.” Liz let a few tears fall from her eyes. Liana hesitated for a moment then opened her arms. Liz practically collapsed into Liana’s arms when she opened them as a gesture of friendship and support. It felt awkward for a moment. Liana stared over Liz’s shoulder and caught Scott’s eye.

He was making faces at Liana. Liana grimaced. She had no clue how to comfort a depressed angel.

“If all of the records have been erased then how will you know who did it?” The question worked to bring Liz out of her sad state. She pulled back out of Liana’s arms, and seemed much more composed at the moment. In fact she was angry;

“Whoever did this also took the sword. When I find the sword, I’ll know who did it because they'll have it in their possession.”

“What sword?” Liana asked.

“Oh, sorry, I forget that you don’t know much about angels yet or what's been happening. Raphael had a sword that granted power to whoever wielded it. I think that might be the reason they got rid of him. I’m not sure. At any rate, we’re trying to do things from both ends. I’m trying… I mean, we’re trying to find the sword, and the person or persons who are responsible.” Liz said.

“That’s what I’ve been working on actually, which is why I haven’t been around to protect you quite as much as I wanted to be.” Scott added.

“May said it was because of the shortage of guardian angels left in heaven.” Liana replied.

At this, Liz perked up. “Has May visited you?”

For a moment, Liana was worried that she'd gotten her sister in trouble, but when she saw the smile on Liz’s face she knew it wasn’t an issue.

“Yes, she’s visited me, but mostly in my dreams. She wasn’t able to share much with me.” Liana replied.

“I’m glad to hear it!” Liz's manner was kind.

“Tell me this, why did Matt or Azren or whatever his name is, kill my sister?” Liana said glancing between Scott and Liz. Scott shuffled his feet uncomfortably while trying to avoid her eyes.

“I’ll answer this one.” Liz said. “I think it’s because the person who’s doing all of this needed him on their side. I imagine that maybe he got too close to discovering the truth, and then when the villain found out, they decided to turn him to their side.”

“But, why May?” Liana made a point of looking at Scott, even though Liz was the one speaking. He was now trying to rub a hole in the floor with the toe of his shoe.

“The fastest way for a guardian angel to fall is to kill the person that they’re supposed to be taking care of, it’s a complete reversal, and it’s totally unexpected not to mention the fact that it disrupts the way that the earthly timeline is supposed to flow.” Liz replied as she went to make tea.

“The timeline?” Liana persisted even though she felt dumb for asking all these questions.

“Yes, Liana. The world will never know how it would’ve progressed had your sister been left alive. Normally, everyone has a fixed time to die, and heaven and earth continue on without any major disruption when someone passes away at their set time, but when a life is taken when it isn’t supposed to be, then it throws the whole thing out of balance. The world will never know what it has missed, or the people that May would’ve encountered, she will not meet them now or influence them. It throws the pattern of events out of whack, which is why what this villain is doing is so horrible! It’s why they need to be stopped.”

This was all too much for Liana. She felt overwhelmed. She wanted to go home right then. Scott noticed that she’d reached her limit and offered to take her home. Liana readily agreed, after all she was still a hot scratchy mess, and her feet hurt where they’d been scraped up. She also felt a bit out of place in their nice kitchen with her dirty bare feet splayed out on the floor.

Scott made his wings invisible again. It was almost as if they’d never been there. Liana found herself reaching over to feel for them. She couldn’t sense them at all. Scott noticed her confusion and laughed.

“Angels are good at disguise. You won’t feel anything no matter how hard you search.” Scott said with a comedic laugh.

Liana sighed. "I hope that one day all of this will make sense to me." She turned to say goodbye to Liz, who gave her a big bear hug and told Liana to be careful and not to tell anyone about their secret.

Liana nodded her agreement.

Liana followed Scott out to his car and he handed her into the passenger seat. Now that she had a moment to think Liana found that she was upset. She’d wanted to have Scott for her very own, she’d wanted him to fall in love with her, the way she had with him. Now, everything was changed. She knew that he was an angel, and she doubted very much that it was a good thing for an angel and his guardian to be together. Not only that, she felt embarrassed because she'd confessed to him that she loved him before she knew that Scott and her angel were one and the same. When he'd been the voice speaking to her.

Now Liana knew why he’d repeatedly fended off her advances. He was supposed to guard her. She doubted his job description called for him to fall in love. It was so unfair. More than a few things were conspiring to keep them apart. Like heaven itself for instance. She was silent as Scott drove her home. When they got to her house he shut the car off and turned to face her.

“Liana, I know that a lot of what you’ve heard is pretty overwhelming. I can see that it's bothering you by the look on your face, so we won’t discuss it anymore unless you want to. I still haven’t told you about what happened at my last school, and I promised that I would. It’s not a happy story for me but, basically I was in charge of watching over that girl that died in the fire. Azren killed her, he started the fire and I was too late to save her.”

“You didn’t manage to save her?” Liana gasped.

“No.” He said, his voice choked with emotion. “Which is why I need to give you something.”

Liana was curious now and her self-pity vanished for the moment. “What is it?” She wondered.

“Well, I don’t want there to be another close call like today. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if Azren succeeded in killing you. I want you to have this as protection.” As he spoke he reached up and unclasped the chain that he was wearing around his neck, the one that she’d only seen briefly once before when it’d fallen out of his shirt.

“This was given to me by Raphael a few days before he disappeared, and it means a lot to me but I want you to have it.” Scott said, emotion in his voice.

“No, I couldn’t take it, if it means that much to you.” Liana put her hands on his and pushed the necklace back towards him.

“You don’t understand. I’ve blessed the medallion so that if you kiss it then I’ll be alerted to the danger that you’re in. I'll be able to find you immediately and rescue you. I need you to have this and wear it all of the time. It’ll make me feel better. I’ll have the peace of mind that in a crisis you’ll use it, and then I’ll be able to get to you and rescue you. Please wear it, for me?” Scott pleaded.

Liana gazed into his eyes and saw the genuine concern there. “Alright.” she said as she started to reach for it. But he leaned over and began to fasten it around her neck. Liana let him and turned herself a little away from him while holding her hair up so that he could clasp the necklace around her neck without too much trouble. After he’d finished, his fingertips lingered on her neck for a few moments leaving hot sparks that melted and spread into the skin on the back of her neck. Liana gulped a thank you and investigated the medallion.

Liana was finally able to see it up close. It was oval in shape and had a cross on it with a cobalt blue stone at the crux of it. It was made out of silver. As she glanced at it, the cross seemed to throw off a blue shimmer. It was beautiful. She studied it for a moment longer, and noticed that there was tiny filigree that wove down the body of the cross and she wondered that anyone could make such fine and perfect detail. “Thanks.” She whispered again while contemplating it.

“Remember to always wear it, and to call me all you have to do is put it to your lips and I’ll be there in a moment.” Scott said.

The thought of calling Scott to be near her when she wasn’t in danger crossed her mind and Liana blushed. Thankfully, Scott didn’t see this, as Quinn had just pulled up behind Scott's car.

“I thought Elodie was on watch for the rest of the day.” Scott sighed, his disappointment showing.

“Maybe they switched or something.” Liana offered as a possible reason for the change. Liana wished that Scott and Quinn could get along. It was tough to constantly feel the need to justify her friendship with each of them. Now that she knew who Scott was, it would be even harder to listen to Quinn’s blatant accusations about how Scott was working to destroy her. She’d promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone, but it would be so much easier if she could tell Quinn about Scott being an angel, so he would leave Scott alone.

For a moment Liana thought about telling Quinn anyway to save herself from having to listen to his blatant attempts to blame Scott. Scott read her face; “Don’t you dare tell him, it'll only cause more trouble. He wouldn’t understand.”

She sighed in anguish, now she felt guilty for even thinking about spilling the secret.

Quinn walked up to the car and without a word to Scott, opened her door and offered his hand. Liana wished Quinn wasn’t being such a jerk about things. She ignored his hand and exited the car by herself. They were halfway up the sidewalk when Scott pulled away in his car.

“Are you okay, Liana? You seem shaken, and you’re not wearing any shoes. Also there’s stuff in your hair.” Quinn asked, curious about the way she appeared.

“I’m fine!” Liana said too forcefully. “Scott and I went for a hike and I tripped and fell.” Liana explained trying to silence Quinn’s questioning.

“Sorry for asking.” Quinn shot back. “Did something happen between you and Scott?” Quinn asked.

“No!” She lied.

“Okay, I was only curious. Listen, Liana, I know I accused him of attacking you in the locker room yesterday and I’m sorry. He seemed to be up to no good. Do you think you can forgive me?” Quinn was rather remorseful as he said this.

“Of course, what’re friends for?” Liana sighed, knowing that the easiest way to deal with Quinn would be to try to smooth things over.

“So, Liana, I’ve got a great idea!” Quinn said, interrupting her thoughts.

“Okay, let’s hear it.” Liana said with a smile at his enthusiasm.

“Well, you know that the Day of the Dead is coming up in a few days, and I was thinking you and I could go to the cemetery and have a ceremony for May.”

“What for?” Liana asked.

“To celebrate May’s life of course, kind of have a tribute for her, you know. What do you think?”

“Umm, okay. I guess that would be fine.” Liana shrugged.

“Excellent! I'll plan it all, and all you need to do is bring a gift to place on her grave.” Quinn said. He was wearing a red shirt with a comic book logo on it and his regular blue jeans. Quinn's dread locks were swept back again into a pony tail holder.

“Sure, I can do that. A visit to May’s grave would probably do me good. And it will be nice not to have to go alone this time." She said.

They walked into the house and Liana headed straight for the shower after making sure Quinn had installed himself on the couch to watch T.V.

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