Angelfire
Page 15

"So what are we seeing tomorrow?" Chris asked, licking the whipped cream topping his cup.
Friday night was Movie Night for our group of friends. It was pretty much a religious event for us. I shrugged. "I don't know. What's out?"
"There's that ghost movie that opened last week," Kate offered.
"Eh," I said. I had had enough of scary situations in the last twenty-four hours.
"Action movie, then?" Landon asked.
We settled on a movie about an existential hit man. Movie Night wasn't about seeing Oscar-worthy films. It was about spending a sweet night out. Cliches be damned.
Suddenly, I remembered my lit paper. I snarled at the ground. "I real y need to get started on my paper."
Kate frowned. "Already?"
"Real y, El ," Landon said, flashing a stupid grin. "What's the point of drinking coffee at night if you're just going to go fal asleep?"
I shoved his shoulder playful y. "While your logic is flawless, it doesn't help me get my paper done. This cappuccino wil , on the other hand."
"Fine, fine," Kate said, waving her hand in a shooing motion. "You suck. Leave."
"You shouldn't tel me I suck on my birthday," I said with a grin.
"Happy birthday!" She beamed.
"Thanks, lover." I gathered my purse and cup. I said goodbye and headed back out to my car. When I got home, I went up to my room and immediately realized I had left my lit book and notes in my locker that afternoon. I swore loudly and plopped heavily down on my bed.
"Damn it, what am I going to do?" I said aloud to no one. I stared at my backpack, angry at it for not containing the things I needed. If I didn't start my paper tonight, I would never get it done. I'd be too busy with my party. I had to go back to school to get it.
I glanced at my clock. It was almost nine, but the school should definitely stil be open for the adult-education night classes. If it wasn't open, then at least I had a pretty good excuse to drive again. I could be optimistic when needed. I grabbed my backpack, purse, cappuccino, and cel phone and headed back to school to retrieve my forgotten homework. The was weakly lit, and I found only two other cars parked in the student lot behind the building. The only il umination was provided by the orangeish blotches beneath the parking lot lights, so I parked under one of them instead of in a dark patch. I figured I was less likely to get jumped there.
I found that the doors I usual y entered through every morning were locked, so I rounded the building until I found an unlocked one. Inside, I nodded to a janitor I recognized, who smiled kindly to me as he swept the floor, listening to the MP3 player plugged into his ears. The hal s were dimly lit, and my footsteps echoed solemnly. It was amazing how creepy this school got at night. I raced to my locker, yanked out what I needed, and stuffed it into my bag before jogging back out of the building. For some reason, outside it now seemed darker to me.
The light on the pole beside my car flickered and hummed. Something tugged on my body, and a hazy veil covered my vision. I had trouble stepping forward, and I looked down at my arms to see what was holding me back. The world, not just the air, but everything solid, stretched and melted away as if I were moving through a gelatinous wal . One more step, and I was suddenly free as a burst of black smoke wound around my limbs and cleared away, leaving the world normal again.
Halfway across the lot, I heard a distinct--and al too familiar--rumble.
"Oh God," I whispered, halting in fear. After two excruciatingly long seconds I heard another growl rol ing through the darkness.
I bolted, digging my hands frantical y into my pockets for my keys. Something heavy pounded the pavement behind me, but I was too terrified to look back. I pressed Unlock fifty times before I crashed into my car door. A giant, dark shape flashed in the corner of my vision, and I screamed and ducked just as an enormous paw raked its talons across the front fender of my brand-new car.
I hit the ground, spil ed my coffee and my bags, and looked up to face my attacker: a reaper, as big as the Audi, loomed over me with one paw on the hood of my car. It looked down on me, covering me completely in its shadow, blocking out the streetlight, its chest heaving with every breath. Its shaggy, dark fur gleamed an ugly charcoal color in the yel ow light. The reaper was wolf shaped, just like the ones from my daydream and my nightmare the night before.
"I have found you, Preliator," the reaper said in a deep, husky, but oddly feminine voice. "And now you are mine."
She grinned a mouthful of fangs and snapped at me. I screamed and threw my arms over my head. The reaper laughed, her hot breath strangling me.
A shadow zipped behind the reaper and suddenly she was sent flying over the Audi. She landed and skidded across the pavement, digging her claws into the pavement and leaving white streaks behind.
I lowered my arms and looked up to find Wil standing over me. His skin beneath the tattoos on his right arm glowed brightly in the streetlight.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, offering his free hand. I took it, staring at him dazedly, and he helped me up.
"The cappuccino . . . It must be the caffeine. . . ."
Wil grabbed my shoulder suddenly, threw me back against my car, and looked fiercely into my face. "Snap out of it, El ie! Denial isn't going to make the reaper go away!"
"I can't! I--"
"Stop saying you can't! You can! You must fight!"
I wheeled around, bumping into Wil as I searched for the reaper, who had vanished. I grabbed at Wil 's shirt in terror, shuddering closer to him, my head whipping around wildly, desperate to find the reaper.