Silver Feather

The sky is heavy and dark. My mind is spinning. Angels? I can’t believe it. I want to go home and forget about all this. Go as if nothing ever happened. I would be fine with that. But, I have a feeling that’s impossible now. I’m cold and shiver inside. Is this true? Is this real? Has Luck been protecting me this whole time? Has he been watching over me my whole life? Is he really my guardian angel? I remember all those feathers I’ve kept. Why was he giving them to me? He says it was to send a message… What message? That I’m in some kind of grave danger? Why me? I can’t ask him now. I can’t seem to ask him anything. How can he expect me to trust him when he won’t answer my questions? I feel so frustrated. Suddenly, the car swerves to the side. I look up to Luck and then out the window, startled. There was an extremely long idle black figure in the middle of the road. It starts shifting its shape.
“Whatever you do,” Luck says rigidly, “Do not get out of the car.”
The tone of his voice scares me and I clutch my hands on the leathery seat. The figure hovers in the air. It begins to glow. I watch Luck reach in the backseats and cautiously pull out a huge firearm. I gasp, surprised at the sight.
“What are you going to—” I try to exclaim.
“Sh,” Luck quickly cuts me off, keeping his eyes on the dark figure. I don’t say another word. The dark shadow starts to get larger by the second. Luck gives me another look before taking off. “Don’t get out.”
He opens the door and aims at the smoky shadow. Suddenly, a big creature jolts out. I scream at its ugliness. Its bodice is black and covered in tar like spikes. It growls and snarls its spikey teeth to us. Then, Luck shoots it and it explodes black slime everywhere. Before I can blink, several tar creatures rapidly pop out the shadow and begin attacking Luck. I scream and cover my mouth. Luck shoots them one by one, but there are way too many. One jumps itself on the hood of the car, shaking it. The fear freezes me over. No, no, no, no, no. It thrusts its spikey arm right through the windshield, smashing it to bits. It reaches to harm me, but explodes before it can. I’m then covered in steaming black mucus. It burns. I shake uncontrollably. Before I can turn my head, another creature flips the car upside down. The car crushes me underneath as the creatures tear the car apart. I scream and try to rub my face. I’m bleeding, though I don’t know from where. I crawl to the back of the car and find a duffel bag. I push my hand in it and grab the closest thing that resembles a gun. A monster pokes his head in and roars horridly. I press what I think is the trigger. It only deforms the side of its head. I shoot again, still yelling and panicking. It keeps roaring, making my ears hurt. He said to not get out the car… Don’t get out, Save. Don’t get out. Suddenly, the monster halts and explodes. I pant. I’m aching all over. The roars from outside come to an end. I stay still, listening carefully. I don’t hear anything. I try to move my body, which just grits the shattered glass and broken metal.
“Luck?!” I hoarsely call out in the silence. I pant. “Luck?!”
It burns. It burns. It burns! I can’t think of anything else. I look at my sizzling arms. I rub the sticky hot gunk off. It’s too hard to get off.
“Luck!” I cry out.
I then hear shingles and some trotting noise. I look up and see Luck struggling to get to me.
“Save?”
“Here! I’m here,” I call to him.
He looks in the back seats and spots me. He’s covered in black gunk too. He breathes heavily and crawls closer.
“Why did you tell me to stay in the car? That was a stupid idea! I almost died!” I yell angrily.
He manages to smirk, annoyed of me.
“You are still alive.”
“How are you still alive?” I pant out, exhausted.
“Don’t worry about me,” he says, pulling me out the crushed car.
We finally manage to get out the trapping car and get on our feet. I look out at the dirty warzone Luck has been fighting in. There are already big birds picking at the black mucus. It looks so disgusting. Luck eyes me well.
“I see you’ve used my equipment,” he says.
I frown as much as I can to show him how upset I am.
“It was handy,” I give him back his gun. “So that I wouldn’t get eaten.”
He sighs and begins to walk ahead.
I ask, “W-where are you going?”
“Find a new car,” he says.
The long road never ends at the horizon. It can be miles and miles before we reach any form of civilization. Is he out of his mind? I’m aching all over. How does he expect me to walk through the middle of nowhere? There is nothing else to do but to follow him. I fight back angry tears. There is still a limp in my walk. I think it’s worse than before.

It’s night and I barely have the ability to breathe. My body can no longer hike up the road. Luck is so far ahead of me; I doubt he’ll notice me missing. I stop. I collapse on the hard ground. My throat itches and coughs. I hate this. I start to sob again until I pass out.

A lament escapes my throat as I try to crack my eyes open. I feel cool silky fabric wrapping me. My skin is not burning. I lift my stiff arm to rub my head. I find it moist. I lift myself up. I seem to be in a hotel room. I look around at the minimalist room. I finally see Luck sitting by the edge, polishing his weapons.
“W-what happened?” I murmur.
Luck glances and sees I’m awake. For a second, he gives me a look of relief. But, it quickly disappears as he speaks.
“I carried you.”
“Where are we?” I rub my head some more for good measure.
“Tennessee,” he answers, packing his guns in his bag.
My head still hurts, so I don’t bother asking any more questions. Though, I can’t figure out why my hair is wet. I seem to be quite clean. There is no more black mucus on either of us.
“What happened to all the gunk?”
He looks at me.
“I bathed you.”
As if his words can’t make any sense…
“What?!” I shout.
I watch him wince at my volume.
“Took me a good while to clean up the bathroom,” he says.
Now that I am fully awake and my senses are functioning, I hop off out the bed and hug myself, inching away from Luck as far as I can.
“H-how much of me did you bathe?” I ask in a stutter, frowning my face.
I don’t know why I asked that… It just slipped out my mouth.
He stands up, reminding me of how tall and built he really is.
“All of you. Or as much as I could, anyway,” he says in a candid tone. I close my eyes, feeling icky and violated and all sorts of wrong… embarrassed to say the least. I still have trouble imagining what he means. “You were unconscious too long. Almost had me worrying.”
“Well, I’m fine now,” I grimace.
I wanted to hide away from him. This room prevents me. I look down and notice I’m in baggy fitted clothes—his clothes. I bite my nails, harshly.
“So… those monsters…they are demons too?” I ask, trying to think of something else.
Luck kicks his weapon bag underneath the bed, nodding.
“There will be more demons after me, huh?”
He keeps nodding. Deliberately, my mind goes back to what he said about bathing…
“Uh,” I talk some more, “So why do you think we must go to Mexico?”
He’s still standing in front of me.
“November 1st.”
“What about November 1st?” I ask.
“It’s the Day of the Dead. The portal will open then. We have to get there before Zephon comes to the Earthly Realm.”
I gulp, “What will happen if he comes?”
“He’ll kill us. Take the Key out your soul. Rule all three realms. The Heavens, Earth, and Hell.”
“Out my soul? What’s the Key?”
“It’s complicated, Save,” he sighs, shaking his head.
“I… I can’t keep trusting if you can’t tell me the truth,” I say, sheepishly.
“Whether you’re falling out the sky or in a pit of fire, what does it matter? You’re still falling to your death, aren’t you? You don’t need to worry because I’ll catch you. You just got to trust me when I say to trust me,” he says.
He makes me shiver. I try to take in a breath. This is probably the most he’s said to me since we met.
“Why are you saying all that?” I look away, feeling my face warm up.
He just twists himself away from me and leans by the window.
“Just get some sleep,” he says.
It sounds more like an order. Anything coming from him sounds like an order. I sit on the bed and stare at him. He doesn’t look as though he is tired at all.
“Are you going to sleep?” I ask.
I tuck my cold feet beneath the sheets. Luck looks back to me.
“Angels don’t sleep.”
“I find that hard to believe,” I comment.
He goes back into looking out the window like a watchman. I lie my head down and control my breathing. I keep staring at him until my eyes shut into deep sleep.

The morning rises. I get up because my stomach yells out of hunger. Luck is not in the room. For someone who claims to be protecting me, he seems to enjoy leaving me all alone. I waste no time getting out the hotel room and finding a source of food. I find a little canteen in the lobby area. I snatch a cookie sitting in a snack basket, as there are no workers at the counter. I unwrap the plastic and crunch my teeth into it, tasting the chocolate chips. I sink in a sofa nearby. Is this going to be my life now? Irritated, I stuff the last piece of cookie in my mouth and walk out the lobby. The sun is shining quite brightly. I raise my hand over my face to shield the light from my vision. I see a few people walking around and doing things. Across the road are a car rental and an Internet café. I walk to the Internet café, occasionally glancing over my shoulder. I stand by the entrance. There is only one person using a computer. Fortunately, the person walks out to the restrooms leaving the computer open. I rush toward it and search up Day of the Dead in Mexico. I read about it as fast as I can. It tells me that they celebrate their loved ones who’ve died. It doesn’t say anything about Zephon or angels or anything useful. I close the site before the owner sees me. I walk out the building, looking back. Suddenly, I collide with Luck, which knocks all the air out of me.
“Why are you outside?” he asks me, holding on to my arm as I needed some support to get back on my feet.
“You’re made out of bricks, or what?” I say, still trying to recuperate.
“Why are you outside?” he repeats.
“Um… I was hungry and needed fresh air,” I say innocently.
I watch Luck look around us.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
Luck leads me to the car rental place where a piece of junk rusty truck was sitting on the side. I’d be surprise if this thing takes us as far as Mexico. I stand in front of it, examining it.
“Do you think this will run?” I say exasperatedly.
I don’t see Luck next to me. I look around and walk further down in the parking lot. Luck is unlocking a more expensive looking vehicle.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
He opens the door and hops inside turning on the engine. I run to the side of the passenger seat. He never really answers me, but I doubt he purchased this brand new SUV. I get in and buckle the seat belt around my waist. Luck drives back on the long empty road.
I doze off a few times. I keep wondering whether I trust Luck or not. I’ve never cried out for help. I’ve never said that a weird guy kidnapped me to anyone. Why haven’t I? Do I believe what Luck says? I can’t seem to figure it out.
“Luck?” I call.
“What?”
“That day… when I was crossing the street and a car almost hit me… you were there?” I ask.
“I was always there when you needed me,” he says.
“Does everyone have a guardian angel?”
“Yes. But, not every angel live up to their duty,” he tells me.
“Your duty is to protect me?” I ask.
Luck simply nods.
I ask, “What happens if I die? What will happen to you?”
“Well, if you did die… I’d be passed up for Judgment by the Virtues,” he explains.
“What are the Virtues?”
“There are seven Virtues. They judge angels by their actions. They decide the fate of angels.”
“What’s it like in Heaven?” I question.
“What do you think?” he raises a brow.
I say, “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”
“It’s just a realm,” he says, “There isn’t much to it.”

Luck stops to get gas. Needing to stretch my legs, I go for a walk. The wind plays in my hair and I don’t bother brushing it back. The ground is dusty. I take slow steps into the tall grain grass. I tug and pull a few plants. The sun’s uncomfortable. I walk further in the field grass. Why is this happening to me? I miss being at home. I miss everything. I wish I could just wake up from this nightmare. A few tears roll down my cheek as I think too much about my normal life. I quickly wipe them away. I don’t welcome them. I sigh and look back. I tell myself that I need to go back to the truck before Luck notices me gone. Or maybe I can run away and hide. I’m stuck between my ideas and reality. I run. I run as fast as I can in the wild field. The further I go, the higher the grass is. I’m out of sight. I stop suddenly. I should go back… No. I keep running. I run a good while until I’m completely out of breath. I start cursing at myself. This isn’t a good idea. But, I go forward anyway.
It’s definitely been hours that I trot in the wild grass. The sun has changed position in the sky and is just about to set. I try to figure out what to do. Until I hike up to a road. I’m surprised Luck hasn’t appeared out of nowhere yet. Maybe he doesn’t really care. Maybe he’s one of those angels who ‘don’t live up to their duties’. I hope so. I don’t want to go to Mexico. I don’t want to be the Key or whatever I am to these crazy people. The dark blue sky begins to drizzle. What was I thinking, running all the way here for nothing? Did I really think I would magically arrive home? I groan loudly to myself.
“Why is this happening to me?!” I yell out in the air. The warm mist envelops me. I sigh again.
“Give me the Key.”
I hear a voice spring up from behind. I drop to my knees, frightened to death. I gasp, aware that somebody is nearby.
“Who’s there?” I shout, trying to sound fearless.
“Give me the Key.”
Then, I hear ghostly chants of several voices saying the same words. I can’t see them, though I know there are many. Too scared, my legs run forward. I still hear the chants. Suddenly, a dozen long limbs come bursting out of the dirt. They swing left and right, trying to grab a hold of me. I feel as though I’m in a claw crane game. The chants and the freakish arms get me overwhelmed. They wrap around my body, stopping me from getting away. I scream, helplessly. I surprise myself at what slips out my throat.
“Luck!”
Tears roll down my eyes.