"The Hidden Angel"
(Book One)
The Angels Evermore Series
Chapter One
Moving from town to town wasn’t
exactly my idea of a great summer vacation, but with the way things were mom
insisted that every summer we had to move.
It was an exhausting task, but we
were all use to it now. We had been at this since I had turned twelve, and I
was only a week away from turning eighteen.
The towns had begun to blend into
one another, and looking out my window now, watching the newest small town pass,
I knew it was just like all the others.
We would live there, go to school,
and then disappear.
Rinse, wash, and repeat.
Just once, I wished we could stay
in a single town, but it was far too dangerous for me.
My mom and sister on the other
hand, they deserved not to have to move from town to town, always having to
make new friends just to lose them later on.
I felt like a burden to them, and
just as soon as I was out of school, which would be this year, I would leave
them so they could finally stay.
I would take my turn to run, and
run alone for once.
“Are you alright, Piper?” My mom,
Helen, asks from the driver’s side of the car, her strawberry blonde hair’s
waving in the wind from her window being rolled down. Her blue eyes meet mine
in concern, so I plaster on a fake smile.
“I’m fine, mom.” I lie easily. Lying
had become normal for me, what my mom and sister didn’t know wouldn’t hurt
them, at least that’s the way I like to think of it.
“Are you two excited to see our new
place?” Mom asks with enthusiasm, to which my sister and I groan.
“Awe, come on, Piper, Hannah,
you’re going both love this house. We’re even going to have neighbors.” My head swings around from my watch out the window
to meet her face, and my eyes go wide with fear.
“Are you crazy, mom? We can’t have
neighbors. It will be too hard to keep me a secret.” I snip out and she sighs
loudly.
“I just thought that……that maybe
this once you could try harder to hide. I want to try for a more normal life
here.” She states.
Her words hit me like a ton of
bricks.
I knew she was tired of moving, but
there it was, in her own spoken words.
I had to get away from them this
year.
I had to allow them the freedom
that I could never have.
“Well, I think that having
neighbors for once will be awesome. Are there any cute guys?” Hannah squeals
from the backseat. I glance back to watch her flip her own strawberry blonde
hair over her shoulders, and then sit up straighter to look out at the town
with a renewed interest.
I look nothing like my sister and
mom, other than sharing their eye color.
I have dark black hair with a
slight curl, and baby blue eyes.
My skin is pale, unlike their sun
kissed skin. I was always jealous of that, but no matter how much sun I had
gotten I wouldn’t even begin to show a hint of a tan.
My mom had once told me that I
looked a lot like my father, or sperm donor as she put it. She had told me that
she had been raped when she conceived me.
It took me a long time just to get
that answer from her. As you can imagine, it was a very touchy subject to bring
up.
“I haven’t had the chance to meet
them, but there might be.” Mom answers and I groan.
“I think this is all going to blow
up in our faces.” I mutter and turn my face back to the passing town.
“Nonsense, this will all work out,
Piper, you’ll see.” Mom sing songs and it makes me want to gag.
This will blow up in our faces, and
they will be the ones to pay for me being….different.
“All I can see is us having to run
so no one throws me into a lab, I can’t see any of this ending well.” I answer
honestly.
The rest of the ride goes by in
complete silence, since everyone is mulling over my words.
It’s one of our biggest fears, or
at least mine. If anyone was to find out my secret I would be taken to some
government lab and dissected like some sort of animal.
I mean, how many humans out there
could possibly have wings, and not just wings, but could fly with those wings?
None, that’s how many, I was the
only one of my kind. At least that’s
what I thought.
Maybe, there were others out there
like me.
I could only hope.
Pulling up to a fancy white two
story house, I look questioningly to my mom. We’ve never had a house this big,
or this showy, and I was beginning to wonder what her plans for this town
really were.
My curiosity is only met with a
quick wink before she is exiting out of the car, and signaling to the moving
truck that had been following us.
“Don’t screw this up for us, Piper,
look how happy mom is. I want us to be able to stay here, and for once I want
to finally be able to have a steady boyfriend. Not just somebody I’m just going
to have to leave behind again.” Hannah demands before exiting the car as well.
I groan and place my face into my hands.
As if I hadn’t already felt bad
enough, she had to go and bring up the past.
The last town we had lived in,
Hannah had made a lot of great friends, and she even had a really good
boyfriend that would have done anything for her.
She thought it was my fault, and
that I had ruined all of that up for her when mom told us that we had to move,
yet again.
In truth, It wasn’t completely my fault that
we had to leave, and I had thought that we could have stayed in that town a
while longer, but mom didn’t think like that, well until now that is.
I wondered what had changed.
“This is going to be a nightmare.”
I whisper before I too exit the car. As I shut the door I glance over to the
neighboring house that is just as large and grand as ours.
My eyes scan over the windows to
spot a man with dark hair standing in the shadows watching us. I can barely
make him out, other than the sparkle of his eyes in the sunlight.
I watch him as he watches us, and
when his eyes meet mine they darken, his lips turn into an angry frown and I’m
left puzzled as he disappears deeper into the shadows.
I shrug it off when mom passes me
with her hands loaded down with boxes.
“Go help your sister, Piper.” She
yells over her shoulder before entering into the house.
I glance back at the window once
more, but don’t see anything so I walk over to the moving truck where my
sister’s blatantly flirting with the moving men.
“Do
you guys live around here?” She asks twirling her blonde hair around her finger.
The two men’s eyes rake over my
sisters well formed body, and I roll my eyes. I grab her arm and force a smile
as I point two the men sternly.
“Hands off, boys, she’s only
sixteen.” I command and their eyes go wide before they rush off to lift up the
heavy boxes.
Hannah wrenches her arm from my
grasp, and turns to glare at me with her hands on her hips.
“Why did you do that, Piper?” I
shrug and plaster on a fake smile just to bug her.
“I hate you, I hate you for all of
this, for us having to move all the time, for us not being able to have friends
or even boyfriends, I wish you weren’t my sister. I wish that bastard father of
yours would come and take you away.”
I back away from her as if slapped.
Some days I knew they secretly
hated me, but to hear it said out loud breaks me.
I take a few more steps back as mom
comes back to the truck.
She glances between the two of us
before her eyes settle on me. She must see my pain and sadness because her face
softens as she takes a step toward me, but again I back away with my hands up.
“What’s wrong, Piper?” Mom asks
softly.
I only shake my head as tears fill
my eyes. Her eyes turn to Hannah who is still staring daggers into me. “What
did you say to her, Hannah?”
When neither of us answers she throws
her hands into the air in surrender.
“Someone answer me, now.” She
demands.
“I hate you, Piper.” My sister
growls and I finally break.
Moms jaw literally hits the ground
as tears begin to run down my cheeks.
“Why would you say that, Hannah?”
“Because it’s true, mom, I hate her,
and I wish she would just disappear so we could have a normal life for once.” My
mom bows her head and pinches at the bridge of her nose as she tries to reign
in her anger.
“It’s true, isn’t it? You both want
me gone, don’t you?” I whimper and her eyes turn to mine with pity.
My heart sinks and I turn my back
to them and begin running.
I didn’t know where to go, but I
had to get away from them, if only for a little while.
“Piper, please come back so we can
talk.” Mom yells as I continue to run. My feet hit the sidewalk with a smooth
rhythm of thuds and it calms me.
I run and run until my legs feel
like jelly, I slow to a walk as I approach a small empty playground. I walk
over to the swings absently to sit.
My mind rewinds painfully to the
words that my sister had said. It breaks my heart to know that I am hurting
them this much.
Why did I have o end up being special,
I didn’t want this life.
I lean my head against the chain
and swing myself gently as I look up at the graying sky.
“Are you ok?” A soft squeaky voice
asks coming up beside me. I glance over to a short, girl with long brown hair
and glasses. Her smile is friendly as she sits down on the swing next to me.
“Yeah, I’m ok.” I answer simply.
She nods and then begins to swing a
little higher. I watch her as she stays silent and closes her eyes. I turn my
head back to look up into the sky once again.
“My names Beth, what’s yours?” She
yells breaking the silence. I chuckle and turn to look back at her.
“I’m Piper.”
“I like that name. So, I take it
you’ve just moved here?”
“Yeah, I did, with my mom, and my
sister Hannah.” I answer quietly.
She stops swinging and watches me
for a few minutes.
“Are you sure there isn’t something
you want to talk about?” She asks softly and I shake my head. “Well, if you
ever do want to talk everyone always tells me I’m a good listener.”
“Beth, I don’t want to be mean or
anything, but I’m not really looking for friends, I won’t be around for long
before we just end up moving again.” Her lips form an “O”, and I instantly
regret my words.
“That’s ok, I don’t really have
many friends anyway, but maybe I’ll find some this year at school.” She
whispers sadly.
“You don’t have any friends?” I ask
looking at her in surprise.
“No, I don’t. Nobody really gives
me a chance." She answers.
“Well, you know what I take back my
comment. I guess I could use one good friend. I need someone who can show me
around school, are you up for that?” I ask and her frown quickly turns into a
grin, and before I know it she is slamming into me.
She hugs me tightly and I awkwardly
hug her back.
“Oh my God, thank you. You just
totally made my day. I promise you won’t regret this.” She bounces on her feet
as she pulls back and I can’t help but feel some of her excitement.
Turning my face to the darkening
sky I groan. I had to start back now if I ever want to get back home before it
grew completely dark.
“I have to go, I’ve got a long walk
and I want to beat the sunset.” I state and Beth bounces even more wildly on
her feet.
“I can drive you.” She blurts. “I
mean I can if you want me to, that is. I don’t mind at all.” She rambles and I
chuckle.
“Alright, I’ll let you drive me
just this once, but next time I’ll drive you, ok?” I state and she nods, biting
down on her lip. When she doesn’t move I wave my hand allowing her to go first,
she jumps into action with a squeak. I hold back my laughter.
Maybe having a friend like her
wouldn’t be so bad, no one had made me laugh this much in a very long time.
Once in her tiny little blue VW bug,
I direct Beth back to my house.
She sings along to the songs on the
radio as I stare out the window wondering what to say to my mother and sister.
I didn’t know if I even want to face them, let alone talk to them.
“If you want to talk, I will
listen, Piper. Whatever is bothering you, I won’t judge.” Beth states softly,
turning off the music. I turn to her and for a moment wishing I could tell her
all my problems.
Abruptly, I just let one slip.
“I had a fight with my sister, and
she said some things….” I trail off.
“Well, that is bad.” Beth states
and I roll my eyes, letting out a laugh.
“Yeah, she’s sixteen, and she thinks
she the queen of beautiful.”
“Well, then she will get along
great with my sister Sara.” Beth answers with a sigh.
“If she is a mean girl, then yeah
they probably will.” I whisper and Beth nods. At least we had something in
common.
“So, do you want to hang out
tomorrow? I mean, if you’re not doing anything.” She rambles conveniently changing
the subject and I smile.
“Yes, we can hang out. Do you just
want to meet somewhere?” I ask and she shrugs.
“Let me have your number, and I’ll
figure out a place that will be easy for you to find, then we can make plans.
Does that sound good?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” She hands
me her phone and I quickly punch in my number before handing it back to her.
Pulling up to my house she lets out
a low whistle, and I look to her in question.
“You live here?” She asks and I
nod. “Have you met your neighbors yet?”
“No, I haven’t, why?”
“From what I know of them, which
isn’t much, they are a very creepy bunch. There are four kids that live here
and all of them are strange, especially in school, they only talk to each
other.”
“That is weird, what else do you
know about them? I ask absently as I look to the neighbor’s house.
“They are weird, but the one
brother or whatever, Joel, he was nice to me. He’s the only one who has ever
stuck up for me in school before.” She confesses quietly.
We stay quiet for a few moments
each of us lost in our own thoughts.
“You have me now, Beth.” I whisper
and then quickly exit the car. I rush to the door, and only look back once I
hear her leaving.
I take a deep breath to prepare
myself for what’s going to happen as soon as I open the door. I know my mom
will have a ton of questions for me to answer, and I won’t know how to answer
them.
Taking breath after breath, I try
to get up the nerve to go in, but instead I opt to sit out on the porches white
swing.
After only a few moments of
swinging my mom slowly and cautiously comes out to sit with me. She stays
silent as she grabs my hand into hers.
“I’m sorry about your sister,
Piper. You know how she gets when we move.” I nod. “I know saying sorry for her
isn’t going to fix things but I want you to try, I want us to have a normal life
here.” I nod again looking out at the road.
“I saw a girl drop you off earlier,
did you make a friend?” She asks with hope lacing her words.
“Yeah, I guess I did. She seems
really nice and she made me laugh.” I whisper and I know my mom with get the gravity
of that, she knows how sad and lonely I feel.
I can’t help feeling like an
outcast, and I hated getting close to people for fear of them stabbing me in
the back. It had happened far too many times to count.
“Am I going to get the chance to
meet her?” Mom asks.
“Yeah, she wants to hang out
tomorrow, I’ll have her come by afterwards.” I state and for once it feels like
I might just have a chance at a normal life.
“Good, I’m going to head back in.
I’ve almost gotten the kitchen stuff unpacked, so we can have breakfast in the
morning.” She gives my hand one last squeeze before heading inside.
I resume my swinging and close my
eyes as a slight breeze brushes through my hair.
I shift around after a little while
in discomfort when my back begins to hurt from keeping my wings hidden for so
long. I groan as I bend over to relieve some of the pressure.
When it becomes too much though, I
rush inside and into the kitchen. My eyes go wide when I realize there are no
curtains up in the house.
“Mom, where are the curtains?” I
state in a panic and her eyes go wide in fear.
“I completely forgot. Oh god, what
are we going to do?” She asks as she begins dumping out boxes frantically. I panic
and rush up the stairs, heading down the hall to a room I think should be
hidden best.
Mom follows me closely as I rush
into the empty room and fall to my knees as I rip off my shirt.
“Are you going to be alright,
Piper?” Mom asks quietly and I nod gritting my teeth in pain.
“I’ll be fine, mom. I just held
them in too long today.” I whisper and she nods before leaving the room and
shutting the door.
I let another loud groan out as my
wings slowly unfold from my back. It feels freeing when they are finally free
and I fan them a little as I stretch them out in the room.
The breeze they create blow through
my hair and I close my eyes and smile. I really wished that I could go out for
a flight, but it was too risky just yet.
I open my eyes after a few calming
moments only to spot someone watching from a window directly across from me. I
gasp and back away into the shadows, praying that they hadn’t seen my wings. I
couldn’t ruin things this fast, and it would suck considering we had just gotten
here.
I kneel down to the floor as I
continue to watch the shadow in the window.
I try my hardest to fold my wings
away but they refuse, so I make a quick decision to just rush into the hall and
yell for my mom.
I just wanted to go to bed and
forget that this even happened. I hopped it wouldn’t blow up just yet.
“Mom, I need you here now.” I yell
and she rushes out of a room nearby. I let out a deep breath realizing she was
hanging curtains in a room for me.
“I was just about to hang the
curtains for you.” She holds up the dark fabric and I smile, but then point to
the room behind me.
“Can I have that room as mine? My
wings can really spread far in there.” I say softly and she nods.
“Sure, I’ll be just a moment.” She
goes in and I watch from the doorway as she hangs the curtains. I finally let
out the breath I had been holding and walk back into the room.
Spreading my wings once more I
shiver as my mom runs her hands gently across the soft feathers.
“I always thought they were
beautiful, Piper. They have gotten so long….” She trails off as she steps in
front of me.
“What’s it feel like to fly?” She
whispers and I raise my brow to her.
She had never asked me anything
like that.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I feel
free when I’m in the air, I feel complete.” I answer and she nods her head as her
eyes stare off at the wall.
After a minute of silence she pats
my shoulder and then makes her way out of the room. She turns back as she
begins to shut the door.
“I’ll bring up some blankets. The
movers didn’t get everything moved in yet. Your bed should be here tomorrow
though.” I nod and she closes the door. I make my way over to the window and
peek past the curtain.
I gasp and rub my eyes thinking for
sure that I’ve lost my mind because what I’m seeing can’t be real, can it?
Through the shadows I spot wings similar to my own, and they are attached to
the dark figure that I had seen earlier in the day. I place my hand against the
glass and I watch in amazement as the figure does the same.
The door opening startles me and I
quickly pull back, shutting the curtain as my mom struggles with a pile of
blankets.
“This is all I could find. I hope
it will be enough.” She states as she helps me form them into a bed on the
floor.
“This should be fine, mom.” I
answer.
When we are finished I lay down and
she covers me up. I smile as she tucks me in and then walks out of the room
shutting the light off.
As I lay in bed I wonder if what I
had saw was real, was I really not alone?
As my eyes grow heavy, I drift off
to sleep dreaming of a world less lonely.
****
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Thanks for reading.
Raven K. Asher
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