Angels of Moirai (Book One) (7 page)

The hairs on my spine stood up as I heard the cracking of branches nearby. I opened my eyes and sat up briskly, my eyes following the sound. I caught sight of a dark shadow moving away in the forest. Fear told me to stay where I was, or run back into the house and lock the doors, but fear didn’t control me in that moment. The dark figure resonated as familiar; something I’d seen before. Curiosity settled within me as I stood and walked towards the dark shadow in the forest.

I hesitated slightly as I entered the edge of the forest, but felt my body strain when I stopped. It was as though the figure wanted me to follow, pulling me along in some kind of way.

I stepped forward, carefully watching my footing and the figure in front of me, but with every step, it became clearer to me who it was. I could see the broad angel wings hang down from his shoulders; I’d never forget those wings…

“James,” I called out.

The figure paused.

“James?” I said again, this time a slight tremble was in my voice.

James turned and in one breath, he was towering above me. I waited for him to speak, but his lips stayed closed, and his jaw tight.

It didn’t feel like I was dreaming, but it didn’t feel like reality either.

“What is this?” I spoke quietly, looking around me at the stillness of the trees. “This is real… isn’t it?”

His eyes stayed on mine as he nodded in reply.

“But how?”

“You’re not meant to be here… This isn’t for you to see,” he warned.

“I don’t understand…”

“You’re changing things, Lila. You can see things that others cannot. They are not happy…”

“They?”

His head tilted up towards the sky as if he’d heard something, his eyebrows drawing together. Before I could look up as well, he quickly looked at me and reached his hand out, grabbed my arm, the touch sending a jolt of hot burning pain through my body.

I gasped as I opened my eyes up and sat up from the jetty. The searing heat still radiated in my body from James’s touch, and like the dreams I had before, he was nowhere to be seen. The world and my surroundings were as they were before, normal and composed. Only this time, I was certain it wasn’t a dream…

***

I hid my desperation from Jackie that night as excitement. It was possibly the last party until we graduated, and I hadn’t told Hayley that I was going to the party. She messaged me just after the incident at the jetty and told me she was going to stay an extra night at Poppy’s, as Poppy was having some kind of boy problems and needed her company. I thought it would be best that she stayed away anyway. I didn’t know what was happening, and it didn’t seem that I had any control of any of it either.

It wasn’t until I was walking out the door to the party that I got a phone call from Jackie saying she couldn’t make it any longer. Her younger brother had gotten sick and her parents had gone out of town for the weekend, so she would have to stay at home and look after him.

I contemplated not going at that point, but I didn’t think I could go another night without knowing the truth. I didn’t know anything about James, or how to contact him. Best chance of seeing him was at this party, so I had to go.

My hands clung to my steering wheel as I peered down the street at the party ahead. I’d been here for twenty minutes now, unable to bring myself to move. It wasn’t until I received a text message from Jackie that I’d hesitated no more, and jumped out of the car.

Jackie- Heads up. Just saw on Facebook, Hayley is at the party.

I walked swiftly towards Dale’s parent’s house with my phone and keys in hand. He, like nearly everyone in our school, lived in a wealthy estate. His house was large, boasting three stories high. It had dark grey render on the outside, and stood as a modern piece of architect. I had been here a few times when we dated, so I knew the house and area reasonably well.

The party was already in full swing when I arrived, even though it was only nine at night.

I made my way through the entrance of the house, not bothering to knock, as there was no way anyone could hear me with all the music anyway.

There were people scattered throughout the house and every turn I made, many faces I didn’t even recognise from Eden College.

“Hey you,” a sleazy voice behind me said as he grabbed onto my waist.

I pulled my body from his grip and turned to see it was one of Dale’s friends, Noah. Noah was just like the rest of Dale’s crew, rich, and full of himself.

“Hey, Noah,” I said less enthused about seeing him.

“Come to see me, have you?” A sly grin crept onto to his face as he stepped forward to try to touch me again.

“No, definitely not.”

Out of all the boys, Noah was the one I disliked the most. He was stronger than the others were, and he made it known. He also didn’t take no for an answer. The fact I was in the kitchen alone with him put me on edge.

“Whatever. What’s the deal with you anyway? You some kind of prude or something?”

I took another step back from him, trying to shield myself behind the island bench, but with every comment he made, he moved closer and closer to me.

“No,” I replied softly, the confidence within me fading by the minute.

“Oh, I get it, you’re a lesbian then, is that it?” He placed his beer on the bench and cocked his neck. “Not that I mind, the more the merrier if you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I know what you mean, and no, I’m not.”

“Then what? You’re too good for all of us?”

“That’s not what I said.”

My back hit the edge of the kitchen sink as he took two more steps towards me. My hand searched the bench as my eyes stayed on him. He pressed his body up against mine. My stomach dropped at the feeling. Fear racing through me, I gripped onto the only thing I could, an empty beer bottle, but just as I was about to threaten Noah with it, I heard Maddison’s voice behind us.

“What the fuck is going on?”

Noah quickly backed off me at the sound of her voice.

I had never been so happy to see Maddison before in my life, but that wasn’t to last, of course.

“You,” she shrieked, pointing to Noah, “go and get me a drink like I asked you to. Now!”

Not even the likes of Noah stood up to Maddison. He was whipped, just like the rest of them.

“Babe, I was only messing around.”

She held her hand up in his face. “Save it.”

Noah shook his head and gave in, walking off outside with his head hung low.

I tried not to notice the fact Maddison’s eyes hadn’t left mine, as I placed the bottle back on the bench and tried to make my get away.

“Don’t even think about it. You’re not getting away that easy, Lila.”

I stopped before the doorway and turned around.

“I’ve got to go.”

I thought for sure her DD boobs were going to pop out of her white midriff, as she crossed her arms across her chest, pushing her boobs even higher.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Maddison hissed through her teeth.

I almost laughed at her. “I’ll go if I want to go, and there isn’t a damn thing you can say about it.”

Maddison’s face hardened. “You think you’re all that don’t you? First Dale, then James, and now Noah. You really are a slut.”

My mouth dropped. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“First of all,” I said through my teeth, “Dale and I dated a while ago now, and what just happened with Noah was him trying to hit on me, the feeling wasn’t mutual, and lastly, what happens with James and I is none of your god damn business.”

“It’s my business if I say it is. You’re no better than the low life scum your friends with. What’s her name again, Jackie?”

“Don’t you
dare
bring her into this! You have no right to talk about her. She is twice the person you’ll ever be!”

“Yeah, in size you mean,” she snapped back.

I clenched my fist. I’d never, ever been in a fight before, I’d never felt so angry that I’d be at that breaking point, but now with Maddison, I was fuming.

It was a typical response from someone like Maddison. The first thing girls like that attack, is someone’s body image, however, there wasn’t an inch of fat on Jackie so her remark was lost.

In the years that I’d been at Eden College, not once had I ever seen or heard Maddison be a genuinely nice person. All she cared about was being number one. She didn’t care who she had to step on or whose life she had to ruin to get there. I would like to say her parents looked down at her behaviour, but they were just as bad, only they were older. When they ruined someone’s life, they didn’t just make their high school years unbearable, they destroyed them; their careers, their families, everything.

I wanted to hope that karma would come back and bite her on the ass later on in life, but I doubted it. People would continue to be like that for the rest of their lives and pass on those values and morals to the next generation. I pitied their children.

The only hope I could hold onto was that one day Maddison would grow up and change, change her life for the better, using her power and money in a more constructive way, but right now, she was Maddison, a snobby bitch.

A group of seniors walked into the back door and all stopped abruptly. They could feel the tension between Maddison and I, hell they could see it. I didn’t want to fight anymore, I was over it, and I was over her.

I turned and walked away, ignoring the whispers and looks from the seniors. Maddison no doubt, will fill their ears with lies about what happened.

Just as I reached the front door, I received a text message through, stopping me to see whom it was from.

Hayley- Don’t hate me… but I’m at Dale’s party. Need your help.

My instant thoughts were of disappointment, I’m not going to lie. I was upset that Hayley had lied to me when she said she was going to Poppy’s. We were so close, and I didn’t want our relationship ever to get to a point that she felt the need to deceive me so she could go to a party. I couldn’t think about that now, she needed my help, so I quickly typed back a reply.

Lila- What’s wrong?! I’m here now, where are you????

Hayley- Upstairs in the bathroom at the very end of hall.

I raced towards the stairs, my heart pounding in my chest. I felt like what a mother must feel like when their worst fears were coming true. I tried to keep my thoughts at bay; the endless possibilities burning my heart with what had happened? Was she okay? Did someone…

I raced towards the bathroom and didn’t even bother knocking. I opened the door to find Poppy vomiting in the toilet bowl while Hayley held her hair back from her face.

Hayley looked at me in desperation, and I knew now wasn’t the time to be upset at Hayley.

“How much has she had to drink?” I asked as I kneeled down beside her.

“Five, maybe six shots of Vodka. She’s never done shots before,” Hayley replied. “She’s going out with Tom now, and they were playing this drinking game…”

I nodded. She didn’t need to tell me anymore. Tom was in my grade and just like Dale, had girls flocking to be his next girlfriend. They would do just about anything for him to show some interest in them and looks like Poppy wanted to keep the interest on her.

“Her mum is coming to get us at ten. She would be pissed if she found out Poppy’s been drinking.”

“So…”

“So I need you to help me get her sober up by then.”

I raised my eyebrows. “In an hour?”

She nodded.

I sighed. “Okay, you stay here and I’ll go find something to eat and some water.”

I didn’t want to go back downstairs in case I saw Maddison again, but I had to. So I toughened up and went and got what I needed to get. Thankfully, no one was around, apart from a few people I didn’t know, they were all outside; one crises down, one to go.

Poppy seemed to come around a lot quicker than we both thought she would. I made her eat some sandwiches and drink water. We redid her hair and make-up and come ten o’clock, she was still drunk, but not vomiting and looking like she might just be able to fake it until she got back home without her parents realising what had happened.

We made our way out of the party without anyone seeing. Poppy’s orders and I didn’t object. I didn’t want to see anyone either.

As we were waiting out on the driveway for Poppy’s mum, Hayley pulled me aside to talk.

“I am so sorry, Lila. I didn’t want to drag you into this, but I had no one else to go to.”

“Why were you here in the first place?”

“It wasn’t my idea, trust me. Tom told Poppy to come. I tried to talk her out of it because I know what Dale’s parties are like, but I couldn’t and I didn’t want her to come alone.”

I nodded my head. It was enough of an explanation, as I needed. I knew she was telling the truth. We were both terrible liars to each other.