Protector

Aziel Piper warily watched the boys across the room, hoping to avoid whatever they had originally planned to do. They were seniors from the basketball team, but they were very immature and childish. Just yesterday they had thrown paint all over the front of Alexander’s white button up shirt. The memory alone had sparked up her intentions to keep an eye on them.
Alexander asked,” What are you doing, Aziel?” He peered down at her with beautiful green eyes, his glasses skewing off just a tiny bit.

Aziel laughed and gently tipped them to where they perched straight on his face. “Just making sure I don’t get painted on.”
He smiled mischievously at her and edged toward her. “Are you trying to say something?” Aziel scooted her chair over, angling away from her best friend’s dangerous hands. He smirked and grabbed her by her waist, tickling her sides with his long, piano fingers. She screamed and shoved at his hands, hating the feeling of being trapped.

She pleaded,” Mercy!” Almost immediately Alexander stopped his assault, but he still wore a smirk of success. He winked at her before turning to face forward as Mrs. James scolded them. Aziel didn’t pay attention, though. She was too busy watching the strange boys who were wearing secret smiles.

Mrs. James continued on with her lesson, pacing around the room like she normally does. Her heels clicked down on the floor as she approached the desk. Suddenly, a bucket fell from one of the ceiling tiles. Its contents spilled all over Mrs. James’ pretty floral dress. She glared around the room, obviously looking for the culprit.

The boys that Aziel had been watching were chuckling quietly while the rest of the room just froze. Mrs. James screamed,” Mr. Blake, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Reid what could possibly be funny at a time like this.”

Andrew Blake shrugged,” I don’t know about everyone else in here but you getting soaked is pretty funny.”

Mrs. James’ face flushed red in anger and when she started shouting again, the veins in her neck were clearly displayed. “Principal’s office now!” She slammed her heels down and opened the door for him. After he has passed through she demanded that her pet, Melinda, make sure everyone was behaving and she would be back.

Aziel looked with distaste at the remaining troublesome boys. They were snickering in the back, undoubtedly bragging about their prank. She sighed and then glanced over at Alexander, who was working on some portrait. She peeked over his shoulder to see what it was but he covered it up with his hands. “No, you can’t see it.”

Aziel whined,” Why not? It’s my birthday; I should get to do whatever I want. You only turn sixteen once.”
Alexander chuckled,” Yeah, lame excuse. You don’t get to see it until your party tonight.”

Aziel narrowed her blue eyes at him. “What party?”

His eyes widened and she knew he had let it slip. Her parents were planning a surprise birthday party, which she didn’t want. “Uh, nothing.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I told them I didn’t want a party! I don’t want to make a big deal about it!” Aziel was screaming at the top of her lungs, making a scene but for some reason she didn’t care. All that matter was that her mother and father had gone against her. The room begin to quake as her shouting took on another octave.

He tried to calm her down,” Shush, you know your parents just want you to have a birthday to remember. Like you just said, you only turn sixteen once.” The ground beneath them still quivered as if it too was angry. Alexander gently took her hand and pulled on it so she would come to him. “C’mon, Aziel.”

Her anger suddenly dissipated, like it had never been there. She blinked and felt horrible as she looked into Alexander’s eyes. “I’m sorry.” The words were simple but she really couldn’t convey how sorry she really was. She felt like a horrible, horrible person. She felt her face get warm and her eyes prickle, a lonely tear making its way to the sharp edge of her chin. It made no sense why she went from being so mad she couldn’t see straight to being so disgusted with herself she couldn’t look at herself in the mirror.

Alexander gently brushed her tears away as they feel in rapid repetition. “Shhh, honey it’s alright. It’s okay to get mad every once in a while.” He pulled her into his arms and cradled her against his chest as she sobbed in front of the entire art class. This was a very rare occurrence, seeing Aziel Piper cry let alone sob. He glared at the onlookers, warning them not to say anything or he would hurt them.

Someone snorted in the back of the room,” What a baby.” Aziel picked herself up and glowered in the direction it came from. Skylar Reid was staring tauntingly back at her, twirling his keys around his fingers. “Oh, did you hear that? I’m not sorry if it hurt your feelings.”

Aziel walked to his desk, leaned down so close to his face she could feel his minty breath against her skin. “Yeah, well I don’t care if I do this.” Then she punched him right between the eyes, a crunch that was very audible filled the room. He groaned in pain though he didn’t scream, but his watering eyes gave him away.

Aziel sat back down in her seat, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. Alexander tried to comfort her but she refused to let him take her into his arms. She just let what happened replay over and over again in her mind. Turn the other cheek next time. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess but that was all she could get out of them.

Mrs. James clicked back into the room and gasped when she saw Skylar’s nose dripping blood all over the art room floor. She grabbed some paper towels off her desk and rapidly pressed them to his nose to stop the bleeding. “Oh my! Melinda, I’m going to need you to watch the class again.”

Melinda nodded and perched on the teacher’s chair, giving Aziel a thumbs up behind Mrs. James’ back. Aziel turned her head, wishing the bell would ring already. The clock overhead swirled around from two twenty to three o’clock. The bell rang and all the students let out, looking bewildered at the fast pace of the time. Aziel stared intensely at the clock, wondering how in the world the time had flown by so fast.

Alexander gently pushed her to the door. “I know you don’t want to deal with having a party but you have to go.”

Aziel sighed but agreed with him,” Yeah, you’re right. I’m sure my parents just wanted me to have good birthday.” Alexander and she walked to the car silently. She slipped into the passenger seat, pulling a seat belt over her midsection. He started the car and off they were. Aziel just watched out the window, taking in the beautiful scenery.

Her house sat on the right side of the road, next to the beautiful North Carolina beach. It was naturally too cold to swim during this time of the year, but just being around the ocean was calming to Aziel. She hopped out of Alexander’s car and sat down on the sand, admiring the clear blue waters.

Alexander watched her for a little while before going inside the small, quaint house. Her father had his eyes closed as he rested on the couch. He had blond hair that was starting to gray with age. Her mother was singing in the kitchen, doing the dishes and cooking for her daughter’s sweet sixteen. Everything was perfect for his best friend, but somehow he knew it wouldn’t last.

Aziel dragged her knees up to her chest and gently wrapped her arms around them. She didn’t know what was wrong with her… but the strange things that were happing all of a sudden were not welcome. She shut her eyes as she remembered the horrible morning she had had. Not everyone woke up levitating in midair. Today just had an ominous feeling to it, like waiting for a bomb to go off. What could possibly be happing to her?

The sun started drooping down, gently touching the sea. It was probably around eight o’clock and Aziel had already heard several cars come into her driveway. She pushed herself back up to her feet and kicked off her shoes. Then she lazily made her way up to the back door, figuring the party had started.

The lights were off but when she opened the door, they flicked on and shouts of ‘Happy Birthday’ filled the room. Aziel smiled and hugged everyone around her. Then her mother brought out the cake and they began the happy birthday song. Aziel watched the flickering candle lights, memorized by their gentle glow. Time stood still as the clock ticked to eight seventeen and in that instant that Aziel felt completely and utterly alone.

***

A divine tear leaked out of God’s eye as he looked away from his daughter. She had grown into a beautiful soul, one with compassion and kindness just like her true angel self. He didn’t want to leave her but he must wait until she has found him, just like his other children had to on earth.

Lucifer grinned,” Now the games begin.”

God thundered,” Be gone. ” And Lucifer was swept away from his sight, but not his mind. Raziel would have to be careful or she would lose her soul. He couldn’t bear the thought of his loyal child being chained to hell. He almost turned back and pulled her back to heaven. The only thing stopping him was Raziel’s clear thoughts. Father, it is my wish that I do this and on my loyalty as well.

God regained control over himself, and waited patiently for his daughter to accept him. He would knock on the door when it was time.