Word Count: 1753

Dawn Turner

"You're an angel?"

"Yes, I was sent here to protect you." His voice was enchanting. It sent chills all over my body. Sparks were flying in my brain trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

I remained still. My eyes were silently begging for explanation from the angel in front of me. "I...uh..." I tried to speak but I couldn't will my lips to move. It was as if I was drowning under water, unable to call for help, unable to breath.

"Are you okay?" He gently placed his arm on my shoulder and looked at me with concern.

The angel's hands tightened around my shoulder when I didn't reply and he closed his eyes again. I couldn't tell what he was doing to me but it was working because I suddenly wasn't scared anymore. I felt all the stress and fear that was consuming me swim slowly through my body and then disappear. "What are you doing?" My voice came out lower than intended yet it was still able to break the silence around us.

"Pardon me; I was only trying to calm you down. It's a normal reaction to feel tense and shocked when looking in the face of an actual angel but I genuinely do not mean to harm you, I am only here to help you." He spoke in a soothing tone and maybe it's his angelic aura but I just knew I could trust him.

There was no doubt in my mind that he was an angel. Every time he spoke or even glanced at me, I felt like I was safe and protected. I guess it comes with being an angel.

At this point, I was not afraid anymore. I was just curious.

"You're here to help me? But, why me?" I straightened my back and stood straight. Is Alexander tormenting me the reason why I was sent a literal angel to protect me?

Is it even allowed for angels to show themselves to humans?

"I am not just any angel, Dawn Turner. I am your guardian angel." My jaw dropped. Guardian angel? They exist?

Well after finding out about the existence of fallen angels, this didn't really come out as a big shock to me. I was still surprised to hear that there really was someone looking out for me my whole life.

"So you can help me? Against him?" My voice came out more desperate than I had hoped but at that moment, I didn't care. I was desperate.

"I can only help you to a certain extent." He paused when he saw me furrow my brow in confusion. I motioned for him to continue. "You see, being an angel also means having other heavenly duties to attend to as well as protecting you and many others so I will not be able to watch over you 24/7. Not to mention, it's not really an easy and quick trip from heaven to earth, if you get what I mean." He warned me and I nodded with understanding. I don't know how many angels there are but I know there are a lot of people on earth that need protection. "I will, however, provide you with few ways to distract him until I can get to you if you need help and I'm not there." I nodded at him and sighed with relief.

"Is there a way to destroy him? Forever?" I was more than eager to get rid of that stupid fallen angel with his stupid abilities before he got rid of me.

"You shouldn't get too excited for what's to come. The things I will tell you now will help you defend yourself from him temporarily until I can get to you but it would take much more than simple defense techniques to get rid of a fallen angel as powerful as him." The expression on his face suddenly got very serious and I automatically found myself nodding to everything he was saying.

"Well, what are some ways to defend myself from him?" I dropped down to my knees and sat on the ground comfortably in the middle of the hallway. No one is here anyways.

Zach followed my lead and was soon seated next to me. "First, I know this is something you probably hear a lot but you would be surprised how much praying can save you from people like him." He said. I nodded with understanding.

Pray, Easy. I can do that.

"How does it help me though?" I found myself asking.

"You probably noticed that he can hear everything you think, right?" I nodded at him. "Praying doesn't hurt him physically but it prevents him from being able to hear you thoughts. This could be very helpful to you because then he won't be able to predict your next move as he usually does with his victims."

"Second, it's best to keep a crucifix with you at all times. You can also chain it to a thread and make it into a necklace so that you'd have it on you at all times." He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms together.

"Crucifixes actually help?" I thought that was something made up by horror movies. I didn't think it would actually be that easy to get rid of him.

"Crucifixes actually have no use against demons and creatures from hell because these creatures don't care and have never cared about God. Fallens like Alexander, on the other hand, were once angels. They served God as his children and were very loyal to him so even though they're not angels anymore, crucifixes and prayers still affect them as part angels." Every time he explained something new to me I was left speechless.

I feel like I'm in a movie. How is any of this real?

"Third, holy water is a given as well. It would be absurd to keep holy water with you at all times so this might not help you when you are outside your house but when you are at home, keep a bottle of that around you. You never know." Oh trust me, I know. "Now this may not be as effective as the crucifix and prayers because as you might have noticed already, Alexander has many powers and can probably easily avoid you throwing water at him but still keep that with you just in case." His voice was calm and it made feel like we were just chatting about random things and not about a fallen angel that's literally trying to kill me.

I felt way calmer now than I was before and I can't tell if it's because he's still using his angelic powers on me or because I now have more information about Alexander. It's probably the former.

"Last and most important, if it gets too dangerous for you to handle and I'm not there already, I need you to call out to me. As your guardian angel, I'm tied to you by a bond. This bond will alert me when you're in trouble and it would alert me faster if you call out to me before things get dangerous." He hand was still on my shoulder and it comforted me. Having this conversation with him made me slightly less worried about the whole situation.

"And when I call out to you, you will show up?"

"I'll show up. Getting to you quickly would be a challenge but as I said, if you were able to call out to me before things got dangerous, I'm sure I would make it in time. If not, nothing is guaranteed" He told me kindly.

What I heard was: if you were smart enough and called out to me, I would be able to save your ass. If you acted like a dumbass and took your sweet time in calling out to me, you're dead meat.

"I most certainly do not sound like that." He shot me a glare and my eyes widened.

"You can read my mind too?" He nodded with a smile. "Can Alexander read your thoughts too?"

He shook his head. "Angels can build up a wall in their heads to keep other angels and demons from snooping around their thoughts. I would tell you to think less in his presence but then again, this just sounds stupid and will probably get you nowhere. Just make sure to pray and keep your mind clear." He said and continued staring at me intently.

"I just want to understand why he's going after me specifically... I mean sure, I hit him across the head with a pan once." He raised his brow at me. "Okay, twice. Well, three times. Actually, four if you count the one at my house. Never mind, don't answer my question. I can see it now." I laughed nervously and felt the blush rise to my cheeks.

If you wanted a way to piss off a fallen angel, this surely had to be it.

"And I thought he was the aggressive one in the relationship." He winked suggestively.

I rolled my eyes at that. "I can't find the words to describe to you how disgusting this is to me."

"Trust me, I know."

It got quiet after that and I didn't know what else to say. I felt like I've heard too much already and my mind still has not processed any of it. Never in my life would I have imagined I'd be stuck this position and what's worse is that I can't even tell anyone about it. Well, except for Zach now. But I wish I was able to tell my mom and Skylar too.

I sat there for a while, thinking about everything I heard today when a thought crossed my head.

"Why did he fall?" I suddenly blurted out. Zach raised his brows and I continued, "Well I did some research and in order for him to become a fallen angel, he must've done something bad as an angel, right? What did he do?"

"Let's just say, he--" Zach abruptly stopped what he was saying and his eyes widened. What happened?

He stood up in panic and looked around the hallway frantically. When he didn't find anything, he ushered me to stand up and I did.

"What's wrong?" I asked and felt my heart beat faster at how panicked he looked.

What could possibly have an angel be this worried?

"Hello, brother."

*****