Angels

    She stared into the vanity mirror above her dresser wondering how the rest of humanity would see how she looked today. If you were to come across her during one of these moments and knew what was on her mind you would wonder how someone so beautiful could be so insecure. Her body was near perfect. It was thin and completely toned. She worked hard every day to keep it nice and tight in fear that if she missed a day she’d obtain one ounce of fat. Her breast weren’t big by any means but on her, they  were flattering to the rest of her curves. Her long thin legs lead-up to a perfectly curved backside. Her lengthy auburn hair fell over her shoulder, which complimented her facial structure. She didn’t like her skin because at times she'd have a zit or two, but she was only an 18-year-old girl; what could she possibly expect?

    When she looked into the mirror, all she could see were the flaws, but when others looked, all they would see was her beauty. She hated how she looked, but hid her insecurities from the world so well not even a tank could pierce her securely guarded wall. She wondered if she would ever be happy with how she looked; she didn't think so. As she extended her hand for a hairbrush sitting on top of the dresser, she heard the front door of her house slam shut. She jumped up out of fear. She rushed to her bedroom door, locked it while placing a blanket at the bottom to cover up any light that shone through. She ran to her bed and leaped onto it holding her knees against her chest, rocking slightly back and forth.

    Thoughts of fear ran through her mind; she hated when he would come home this late, or early rather. She heard yelling and objects slamming into the wall as her parents would fight. Her father was an alcoholic, a real mean drunk with a tendency to raise his hand to her and her mother. Her mother hated it but wouldn’t leave him because he was her first love, and that was something she had a hard time letting go of. She begged him to change, but to no avail, he still drank excessively.

    She hated being home because it was always a lonely place to be. Neither of her parents were ever home, one worked long exhausting hours to support them and the other squandered their hard-earned money on his addiction. She always felt neglected; all she wanted was to be loved, to feel it deep down, inside her core, and she didn’t care where it came from she just wanted to feel something.

    Sometimes the girl thought about running away; she  thought her boyfriend would take care of her, but the truth of it was he didn’t treat her any better. He would fight with her consistantly and yell at her for the most trivial things, accusing her of cheating and lying when she was always faithful. This was her curse. She had gotten into the same sinking hole her mother did, but didn’t feel the erg to escape because of the love she felt for him. If only her mother had realized love isn’t enough, that it takes so much more, than just maybe she could have spared this emotional torment for her daughter.

    Down in the living room the fighting continued, she heard the sound of glass smashing against the wall, and her thoughts turned to sneaking out of the house and walk to school rather than try to pass through the chaos brewing from below; It was only a few miles away, and she loved to walk, it always gave her time to clear her head. She unlocked the latch that kept her trapped in the god forsaken house, threw one leg out, then the next; this was not the first time she had done this. She  quietly slipped her body the rest of the way out and closed the window with silence. Once out of the window she noticed her bag of books was still inside, she sighed and and quickly went back in to grab them before she continued on her escape down the latticework. She made it to the ground as quickly as she could, slipping a few times in her heist, she swung her bag of books over her shoulder and sprinted to the road.

    As she walked down the road the girl had started to wish she would have brought some makeup with her because she got that deep insecure feeling in her gut that maybe she didn't put enough cover up on to hide the pimple starting to form on her cheek, but it was too late to go back now. She walked about half a mile when she saw a figure walking towards her.

    It was a man with mid length shaggy black hair and a 5 o’clock shadow. He was wearing black dress pants, a white slightly open button up and a black tie. As he got a bit closer she noticed he was barefoot and had a cigarette in his left hand; he resembled that of an alcoholic in her mind. They nearly approached each other, he gave her a half smile and   she had a look of fear and sadness in her eyes.


    “Good morning,” the man said. The girl continued walking past him. "Isn't it rude to ignore someone when they say good morning to you?"

    She turned around and stared at the man who had already stopped and was looking at her. He took a drag of the cigarette and exhaled the smoke only moments later. She turned back around and started toward the school again. She heard the sound of bare feet quickly coming towards her. She turned and saw the man catch up to her and begin to walk at her pace.

    “I don’t mean to be nosey, but you do seem to be upset. Do you mind if I ask what’s wrong?"

    The girl looked at him puzzled and started to walk a bit faster, ignoring his question.

    "Not very talkative are we," he asked in a sarcastic tone.

    “I have to go to school,” she exclaimed in a very agitated voice.

    “So do I; we can walk together,” he said holding a goofy grin on his face.

    “But you were coming from this way.”

    “I was going to go home and change, but then I noticed a damsel in distress, so I had to stop and see what was wrong. You know; the chivalry thing.”

    The two walked a few more meters; the man smoking his cigarette and the girl quiet and straight-faced.

    “Ya know I don’t bite.” She made no response. “Well since you’re not going to talk, I will. My name is Gabriel. What’s yours?”

    The girl paused for a few moments. “I’m Annabel. Where did you come from and why are you dressed like you spent all night at a bar?” she asked with much curiosity.

    “AH! We’re finally getting somewhere," He shouted. "Well, if you must know I spent the night at my brothers because it was his bachelor party, but I’d rather not go into detail about it." He laughed and there was a short moment of awkward silence between them.

    The girl stopped and looked at Gabriel. The tone of the question scared her; did he really believe he was an angel? And if so why does he look like a bum? She started to walk again. " I don't believe in that crap, but if you are an angel, " she said in a sarcastic tone, " where are your wings? "

“We don’t have them. That was just made up to make us seem a little more mystical,” Gabriel said as he grinned. Annabel looked over at him with a look that told him she wasn’t amused by his little joke. " That’s alright, I don’t believe in them either,” he said grinning and taking another hit of his cigarette. “So what’s bothering you? I’m guessing that its boy trouble huh. It’s always boy trouble with you girls.”

Annabel looked at him doing her best to not frown. “Everything is fine with my boyfriend thank you very much,” she said in a snotty tone.

“You started to frown Hun. That shows something’s wrong. Things aren’t going smoothly are they?”

“I love him. That’s all that matters.”

“But he doesn’t treat you as good as you deserve does he? I know guys like that. My brother happens to be one of them. A real devil, it’s a shame really pretty girl’s like you never get the guys . . . .”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Annabelle interrupted him with a malicious tone.

Gabriel taken back by her rudeness asked, “Are you so sure about that? It’s never good to live in denial; it does more harm than good. " His voice had a hint of concern in it, even though he did not know the girl he seemed to genuinely care about her. He came off as the type of person who would take care of a stranger.



“So what if you’re right, but I love him and no matter what I don’t think I’ll ever leave him; doesn’t matter how good of a guy walks into my life. I’ll always push the good ones away and end up right back to the ones that probably don’t deserve me. Maybe I just deserve them,” She said as a tear came rolling down her cheek knowing full well she believed every word she spoke.

“Why do you doubt yourself so much? I see no reason for it,” he said, curious if she would reply with the truth. She glanced at him and then looked back down the empty road watching where the grass was blowing in the breeze, “It’s . . .” she started to say, but then stopped to think. How long had she actually been living in pain?

As she actually dug deep inside her heart she had realized there wasn’t a single moment in her life that she wasn’t drowning in a sea of pain, the tide always creeping in and snatching what little breath she has left.

“Ya know I've been known to see the future, and I foresee that one day a guy will walk into your life and blow you away. He’ll sweep you off your feet and be everything you want in a guy. You can hold me to this. Write it down if you like.” Gabriel said as he started to laugh at what she believed was his little joke.

Annabel heard his words but let it go in one ear and out the other; she didn’t care about what happened to her or how she was treated; she only cared about the one she believed she truly loved even though she knew, deep down, inside he wasn’t right for her. She wanted the perfect guy, but she would never let go. It reminded her of her mother and that upset her a little; she hated how her parent’s relationship was, but she found herself in the same place. Her face had a look of worry on it, and Gabriel noticed.

“There’s something else isn’t there?” Gabriel asked as he took the last drag of his cigarette, flinging the leftovers to the other side of the road.

Tears began to flow out of Annabel’s eyes as she fell to the ground on her knees, “I hate my life. My parents neglect me. I’m so insecure about myself. I stay with a guy I know who isn’t good for me because it’s what I’m used to. I don’t feel good enough for any one.” She didn’t know who Gabriel really was but she had spilled her heart out to him, which she had never done with anyone before. She felt vulnerable. She didn’t know why she was doing this; she couldn’t explain how someone she barely knew could make the brick wall, she built so high tumble down like a bomb was thrown at it. He put out his hand to help her back up. They started to near the school; Gabriel pulled a cloth out of his pocket and handed it to Annabelle, so she could wipe the tears away.

“Listen you should never cry. You should smile because you are beautiful. You should never let people get you down not even your parents. You should be happy and go after the things that will make you happy because that’s what you truly deserve. Save your tears Hun, there are better days ahead of you just don’t let go of those things that make you happy because in the end, you may never get them back. Don’t live life with regrets. Live it with hope.”

Annabel stopped and thought about what Gabriel just said. She wanted to be happy, but she didn’t believe in herself to actually obtain what she longed for. She turned to look in Gabriel’s direction, and he was gone. She spun around looking for him, but he had vanished just as quickly as he appeared. The white cloth that was once in her hand was now gone as well. She wondered if it was all just in her head, or if he really was an angel. What the man said to her had her thinking, and it opened her eyes to a world that could be filled with opportunity and real love. She wanted things to be different. She wanted to be happier. She wanted to have the life her mother never got to have. She wiped her tears and prayed her mascara wasn’t running down her face.

She walked into the school a little taller, a little happier than when she left the depressing chaos which continued at her house. She had wanted to get all that out for so long, it had been building up inside for years, causing her to reach the point almost bursting.

Behind her Gabriel reappeared, this time, he was accompanied by a tall bulky blonde-haired man wearing the same outfit, only black instead of white. He had a very close resemblance to Gabriel’s facial features. “It is not our place to interfere with the affairs of…” Gabriel cut him off.


“I don’t care for your petty games. You know I do as I please, and you should respect that Michael. Unless you’d rather fight me,” He said with a smile.

“We both know who would win that bout but still I can’t let this go. You need to mind your own business little brother.” Michael walked towards the girl as Gabriel got in his way. He glanced at Gabriel and then rolled his eyes. “Fine have it your way, but I will return,” he muttered. Michael walked off stomping his feet and in a few short moments, he was out of sight. Gabriel was thankful that he was gone.

He turned back in Annabel’s direction, but she had vanished. He thought it was best that she had left; now Michael wouldn’t have to see where she went either. He roamed the halls as he waited for Annabel to get out of class. The pictures that had been drawn on the high school walls amused him, and he took a particular liking to one drawn of a man and a woman kissing. It was a dark picture. He believed there must have been some sort of deep meaning behind why the artist drew it, but he didn’t ponder why. He only enjoyed the art. He lost himself in hours of just admiring such things.

* * *

In the boys bathroom, there was a conversation between two men. “You were supposed to take care of this. We're betting on you ya know. You don’t want to let someone like me down,” Michael said in a serious tone.

A punk looking kid replied in a snarky tone, “Don’t worry I have her right where I want her.”

* * *

As Gabriel stared into this picture, soaking in every brush stroke, a teacher happened to walk up to him. “Where are your shoes young man?” the aged woman screeched in annoyance. He looked down at his feet and then back at the old woman.

“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked in a soft tone.

The teacher looked backward down at his feet and there was a pair of black timberland dress boots now on his feet. She stepped back in disbelief . “They were not there just two seconds ago. What kind of a game are you playing?” she asked.

“No game ma’am,” he replied with a smile.

The woman sneered at him and turned to walk away while Gabriel continued to admire the artwork. Not even a second later the lunch bell had begun to ring, and students were gushing out of their classrooms until there was a sea of people in the cafeteria. He knew this would be the moment, he would finally be able to speak to her, to finish what he had started. He waited as the halls emptied and then headed to the lunch room himself. He scanned from the doorway for Annabel and after a few moments, he spotted her sitting alone. His gut filled with sorrow for her, how could someone so beautiful and so interesting sit all by herself? He started to approach her when he noticed a man had already sat down next to her. It was too late to turn around and find another table, so Gabriel sat at the end of the table and listened.

The man was tall, skinny and had a punk sort of look to him. It was the same man who was recently talking to Michael. From what Gabriel could tell all the man did was throw out a few stories and some crude comments at Annabel. She seemed to let it slide easy at first but wised up to his game. She screamed at him, and he walked away after kissing her on the cheek even though she seemed disgusted. Now was his chance. Now he could move in and sweep her off her feet. Gabriel moved to the stool next to Annabel. She turned over to look at him, and her eyes filled with sparkles; she was so glad to see him.

“I thought I wasn’t ever going to see you again,” she exclaimed.

“Why would you think that? After our conversation do you really think I would just walk away?”

Annabel looked down at her food scanned back to Gabriel. “I figured you were like everyone else, just walk-”

Gabriel interrupted her. “I don’t plan on going anywhere unless you want me to.”

Annabel wrapped her arms around him as a few tears ran down her cheek. She had never had anyone care about her before, too much had happened recently to her that made her feel as low as possible, but this made her finally feel important.


“Why do you care so much? Why have you followed me? It’s a bit creepy.”

“Let’s just say I’m your guardian angel today,” Gabriel smirked.“Why don’t we get you out of here? Get some real food.”He looked down at the slop on her tray and laughed.

Annabel looked at him in a funny way and giggled. She wanted to go but all instincts told her not to, she still had her boyfriend after all. As she pondered this thought, Gabriel had taken her hand and led her outside near the benches that were filled with want to be posers in the school. She flipped them off as the two gallantly ran away from the school. As their travels led them through the woods to her house, they came across a burnt down factory where Annabel used to play as a child. She was dying of heat exhaustion; she fell to the ground hard with a thud. Gabriel dashed towards her position and tried to wake her, but nothing worked. He heard a distant laugh in the background.

“Who’s there?” Gabriel asked. A man walked out of the shadows and presented himself. It was Michael.

“I told you that you weren’t allowed to meddle. You knew I had a lot riding on that little-girl. He said.

Gabriel shrugged and got into a defensive position. He knew what was coming.

“Awe, dear brother you think the worst of me,” Michael said. You could hear the sarcasm in his voice and a light chuckle.

Nonetheless, Gabriel kept his guard up. Nothing would distract him from protecting Annabel. Michael gave him a malicious look. He had put everything he had into doing what he thought was right for her. She was what drove him; he may have been of higher power, but a mere human is who he loved. He was designed to only love god, and yet he could love a mortal. This confused him, but he knew in his heart she came first; she was absolutely important.

Michael ran towards Gabriel and gave him a right hook to the jaw. Gabriel fell on his back, slamming into the hard ground. Michael was the stronger one; he knew this, but when it came to perseverance, Gabriel was the winner. He stood up after that blow and dashed toward Michael and smashed him in the stomach. Michael bent over in pain spewing blood as his stomach filled with pain.

Michael laughed. “Is that all you have little brother? “ he asked while laughing at him. Michael pushed himself up and right as Gabriel was to deliver the final blow Michael met his fist and a giant shock wave tore through them both.

The area was filled with clouds of smoke. Annabel picked herself up off the ground and covered her mouth, so she wouldn’t breathe in the dust, small pieces had caught in her throat, but luckily, she had coughed them up. She was confused as to what had just happened. Out of the dust, she saw a figure approach her. She was scared at first until she could make a clearer view of what the figure was. It was Gabriel. He walked towards her and sat down.

“It’s all over,” he told her in a raspy voice.

“What do you mean its all over,” She asked in a curious tone.

“Your so called boyfriend well he was just toying with you Annabel. Him and my bother, they-”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around him. Gabriel sat there with a smile on his face as if he was pleased. He thought back to the battleground. It was a musty old place. a fog of sand covered the area like a mist but one area stuck out to him. The place where his brother once laid. They both stood up and started walking towards her house, deciding to cancel on the meal.

* * *

The two sat around the fire as the stars lit the sky. The sound of the crickets soothed them. “Yea know I don’t think ill ever forget today,” Annabel said.

Gabriel looked over at her. “You wont. I, on the other hand-" 

Annabel stopped him. “What do you mean?”

“You think I’m a perfect match for you right, but you’re not ready to stop running from the ones who will treat you the way you deserve, from the ones who will really love you. You still have some healing to do. In time, you will understand.”

A look of disappointment was on Annabel's face. There was a sound that came from the left side of her, and she jumped and looked over. She didn’t see anything, and by the time she looked back over to Gabriel, but he wasn’t there. He left her sitting alone. A tear fell down her cheek as she thought of his last words. He was right, she had healing to do and that's just what she was going to do for herself.

Author's Note

First draft with only minor edits.