Loss of wings- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I woke, I was laying in an unfamiliar place. I quickly sit up and look around. I am on an air mattress, in what looks to be a warehouse of some kind. I stand, and notice that my arm is bandaged from the shoulder to the elbow. It hurt to move it so, I let it be.

"Are you hungry?" An accented man's voice asks from the right side of my head.

I turn, and standing there is the man from the bus stop.

"Who are you?" I ask, walking toward him.

"My name is Xander. Now, Haley are you hungry?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I checked your wallet?" He said, but made it sound like a question.

"Ok, sorry if I seem a little out of sorts, but why am I here with you?"

"If I had left you there, you would have been murdered by that demon. He was going to kill you."

"No, Kenet would never do that. He loves me." I say, defending the man that I just left.

"No, Haley, he controlled you. That's not love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails."

I am completely taken aback by this man in front of me.

"He didn't know what love is. He never will, and for that I am sorry. But he will never know love."

"Why is that?" I ask. Looking at Xander, wondering who he really was, he still seemed like someone I knew.

"Can you keep a Secret?" He moved closer to me and whispered in my ear.

"Yes." I inhale deeply as he moves my blonde hair away from my ear and put his lips on it.

"I am an Angel. I have been sent here to protect you." He inhaled and exhaled against my ear and then went on. "And Kenet, as you call him, Is a Demon from hell, sent here to destroy you. You are important, I don't know how, but I have been sent to protect you."

I pulled away from him, the grin on my face a dead giveaway that I don't believe him.

"Don't worry Haley, you will believe." He quickly hugged me then asked again, "Are you hungry?" He set a plate down on the tiny table that separated the kitchen and the bed.

"Yes, thank you..." I sat on a milk crate and ate the sandwich and French fries that were on the plate. He didn't eat, he just watched me. I grew conscious of what I was doing, and slowly stopped eating. "Would you like the rest? I'm full." I push the plate to the other side of the tiny table. He sits down slowly on the other milk crate. His eyebrows were pulled together in confusion.

"Do you not like it? Isn't this your favorite?" He asked, looking at the half eaten sandwich and French fries.

"No, I really do like it, just I thought you might be hungry, and I know that you don't have much..."

"Oh, you thought that this was the last of it? Honey, if you're hungry, eat. I have plenty more. Get your strength up, you're gonna need it.” He pushed the food back in my direction. "I don't need to eat yet anyway." He got up and walked to the window and looked out into the city. "So much evil out there... I don't understand why they don't turn to you, Lord..."He whispered into the glass, watching it fog up under his breath. I watched him stand there at the window and could see what appeared to be wings tattooed on his shoulder blades. I stopped eating again and walked to him.

"How much ink do you have?" I ask, trying not to pull his shirt off to see exactly what it covered.

"I don't actually know... He said, turning to face me

"Can I see them?" I whispered, looking down at the floor.

"Haley?" He said my name, and I looked up at him. His eyes changed color to an even brighter blue.

"Yes?"

"I can't show them to you. Not now. I can't...." Now it was his turn to look down. "I shouldn't..."

"Xander?" I moved closer to him. "Let me..." I whisper, pulling his shirt up and off.

"Haley, what are you doing?" He pulled away, almost shaking.

"I just need to see..." I pulled his arms down to rest at his sides. Across his chest, he had praying hands, a rosary, and the sun. The colors were bright, and sunny. He had black tribal down both his arms and up his neck. I slowly circled around him to see his back. Full wings covered the majority of his back, with a cross running down his spine. The wings started at his shoulder blades and continued down past the waist of his pants. I reach my hand out to touch and he jerks away.

"Please, Haley, Don't touch me. I can't let you do that.” He moves further away.

"I'm sorry... I just... they are beautiful. I just wanted to see if they were scarred. You know, raised off your skin..."

"Just don't. Don't ask me to see them again. You are too much temptation. I can't be tempted to you.” He quickly shrugged his shirt back on and covered the black and colored ink. He walks toward the fridge, and opens it. He looks in for a moment then slams the door closed.

"Damn it Haley!" He walks in a few hurried steps to be directly in front of me. "I never knew these emotions would be so difficult to deal with. I never knew that I could want something this bad. I never knew I could want you this way." He reaches out, hand lightly brushing my messy hair away from my face. "There's a towel in the bathroom, and a new toothbrush, just in case..." He whispered, seeming to have a conflict within him. He reached behind me and pulled me against him. I felt him inhale deeply, just holding me. He pulls away slowly. "I'm sorry. Go; take a long, hot shower. I have to go, but I will be back. Do not let anyone in here; especially Kenet."

"Ok." I walk mechanically to the bathroom. I try to undress, but the bandage on my arm is making it difficult. I walk back out into the main space and I call out.

"Xander! Are you still here?"

"Yes, I'm putting my boots on, what's wrong?"

"I can't get my shirt off... the bandage on my arm..." I feel my cheeks color slightly. I heard him exhale a breath quickly, and inhale just as quickly.

"Ok, I'll help you." He stood after tying his boots. He walked over to me, and I stood there. I looked up at him through my eyelashes, and the look on his face was so intense, that I had to look away. He gently removed my shirt from the injured arm and turned away.” Can you get the rest?" He asked, back to me. I tried to remove the other half, but I couldn't move the bandaged arm far enough. It was then that I realized that I would need help with all of my clothes. I could barely move my arm and that meant he would have to help with the bra I was wearing... my pants... my panties....

"I can't... but it's not just the shirt..."I whispered, and watched him quickly turn to face me.

"Ok. I will help you... but don't move. Just let me. Ok?" He looked into my eyes as he stripped me of my clothing. Slowly, piece by piece, I finally stood naked before him. I closed my eyes, hoping that he would put some distance between us. When I opened them, he was in fact of the other side of the room, but his eyes were fixed on me.

"Thank you. I'm gonna go and take a shower now."

"Go.” I heard him say as I backed to the bathroom door. Once inside I heaved in a breath because I had been holding it. His eyes were so intense, the way his muscles moved under his ink... Shit....

I turn the knob in the shower to get the hot water flowing, and close the curtain. I push the button to start the spray and gingerly step into the large tub. I hot water hits my body and I moan quietly. I grab the soap and work up a nice lather in my hands and wash the pain away down the drain.

I'm not sure how long I stood under the hot water, but before long it had run cold. I quickly turned it off, and stepped out of the shower. I looked in the mirror that hung on the back of the bathroom door and took my body in for the first time in what felt like ages. I had lost a staggering amount of weight, my skin hanging a bit in places; I had deep bruises on my arm where Kenet had held me in his deathly grip. I had bruises along my ribcage, and in several other places. I gasped out loud at what I had allowed my body to be put through. Everything he ever did came flooding back to my mind. Everything I tried to file away in the back of my mind, came rushing forward like wild fire.

The sting of his open hand catching me across my face if I uttered anything out of line, the welt of his belt across my backside if I wore anything that he thought was smutty, the feel of his knuckles punching me in my spine...

I buckled down to the floor, sobbing, naked in the bathroom of an angel...

He was an angel; he had to be, for saving me from the monster I thought loved me. I looked in the mirror at my swollen face and decided that I would never again be a victim. I would never again be weak enough to let a man touch me that way in anger. I stopped sobbing and stood, new determination lit my eyes. I would be strong, no matter what I had to face. I looked at my arm, tightly wrapped in ace bandages. I tore them off with my right hand and I flexed the muscles in the left arm. I cried out, but kept flexing the tender muscles. I stood, naked in front of that mirror for an hour, then I finally got dressed, leaving the bandages off and exited the bathroom.

Xander was waiting for me at the table.

"And now you believe."