Dark Angel Short Story

All the kids love this lady across the street. All the parents are weary of her strangeness. Who is this Lady Erin?

When I was child I met a lady named Erin. She was not a pleasant sight to upon but her soul was as sweet as honey. All the kids in town knew her as a friend. Adults always gave her the stank eye. You know that look. That look that says, 'Who are you and why are you so weird?'

She invited kids over for tea and cookies every Sunday and we had a blast playing in her yard full of trinkets and strange statues. On twice of an occasion I could have sworn one of her many gnome statues winked at me and smiled. I didn't dare tell anyone because I was eight and even at that age I knew it was strange and no one would believe me.

The grown ups had strange talk about her night rituals; which was around seven every night. We were warned to not go near her house but us being kids would dare each other to sneak out and go find out what she did at those hours.

Of course no one had the nerve to do it. We would sit across the street on the curb and in our doorways and watch her house for any sign of anything strange but night after night nothing strange happened at her house. We thought that it was the grown ups just trying to scare us and keep us near home after seven.

Morning would come every day and Lady Erin would come outside and stretch like a cat waking up from a nap. She would walk with such grace and serenity. She would sit on her porch every morning reading a book, sipping coffee and eating a sweet cake. On rainy or cold days she would sit in her front room bay window doing her same morning ritual.

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One cold evening I was walking home from school alone because my brother had stayed home sick with a cold and my friends had left me for their homes. I was walking fast to get out of the cold when I came across Lady Erin's house. Her front door was wide open. I felt strange...like I had to enter.

I slowed down and stopped in front of her open door across the street and I just stared. I was filled with fear and curiosity. Oddly I felt compelled to go find out if something was wrong with her.

I walked across the street and peered into her doorway. The lights were out; the usual soft lights and sunny feeling I felt was gone. I felt like something was wrong and that maybe I shouldn't be entering alone but I also felt like there was something in there I needed to see. The urge to enter was very strong; stronger than my will to run.

I took a step inside and felt like my heart was screaming at me to turn around and run; tears began to form in my eyes and my breathing became heavier. My breath was forming in front of me; it seemed colder in her house than outside. I looked around and everything seemed to be in its place and it didn't seem like a brake in.

I felt an intense urge in my heart to go upstairs to her bedroom. I walked upstairs with invisible hands on my chest pushing me back downstairs but I forced myself past the warnings. I made it to the top of the stairs and walked to my right where I could see a light in the mist of this darkness.

I walked slowly and softly to this light. I put my hand on the door frame and peered inside by pushing open the cracked door further. I expected the door to make a sound but it was silent.

A beautiful lady stood over Lady Erin's body. She looked down on her mournfully. Crystal tears falling on her cheeks and landing on Lady Erin chest. Lady Erin was laying on her bed with her arms crossed over her chest holding a single bright red rose.

The lady that stood over her wore a dark suede robe and dark long hair hung loosely around her shoulders. She looked familiar to me so I said, “ Lady? Who are you and what have you done?”

She didn't look at me; she just stared at Lady Erin's lifeless body then she rose her hands to her chest and pushed the robe off her her shoulders. Her body was clothed in a long black dress and large dark wings folded around her body. She looked up at me and put one finger to her lips and she said, “Shhhh.” Immediately my mouth dropped when I realized who I was looking at; it was Lady Erin.

I said in a hush trembling voice, “How?”

She just gently smiled and a bright light started to form in the center of her chest until it enveloped her entire body; as the light faded the angel faded until there was no one was there.

Lady Erin's body lay stiffly upon the flower comforter bed. Her eyes closed and mascara ran down her face until it formed tiny black pools on the base of her neck. Tears came down my eyes like rivers and I ran outside. It had begun to snow and the cold wind hit my face as I ran home to tell my mother.

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The ambulance came and took Lady Erin's body away; everyone was outside watching the scene and talking softly with one another.

The funeral had come and gone and everyone seemed to forget about the happy lady who lived across the street. Years came by and I grew up and had a family of my own but Lady Erin never left my mind.

It felt like yesterday I saw her sweet smile and every time I came to visit my parents I would look across the street hoping to see her but realized she was gone.

A new family had moved into her house and was not aware of the sweet gentle soul who once resided there.

My daughter had became friends with some kids in my old neighbor and they had somehow got around to taking a trip to the local cemetery. I remember thinking, 'A cemetery? Why? What kids do today is beyond me'.

She came back some hours later showing me pictures on her phone of their time there. On one particularly eerie picture her and her friends were posing for a group pose and in the far back of them was that same dark angel I had seen years ago. She was standing behind a nearby tree looking directly at my daughter.

I dropped the phone and my daughter shouted, “Dad!” I said while picking up the phone, “Sorry.” I handed her the phone and rushed outside on the front porch to catch some air.

I remembered a verse in the Bible: Hebrews 13:2 “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares”.

I couldn't help but wonder who really was Lady Erin.

Author's Note

This can be also seen on hubpages.com and wikinut.com.

Reviews

[Chris A Jones]

Some grammatical and spelling errors. But otherwise a very interesting story.

[T.S. Sky]

Thank you for the constructive critism. Love it. I'm always looking to improve my writings.

[Chris A Jones]

My pleasure. Looking to improve my own writing as well. I'm no expert by any means.