No Angel Came: Chapter 1 *HF*
By Loki
This story is written by the being known as Lokifire or more commonly Blackloki. Hope you guys like it!!
NO ANGEL CAME
Chirp
Sip-- sipping
Blackberry wine
Twink-- twinkling
Stars shine
Pound—pounding
Heart in my chest
Search—searching
Pandora’s quest
Drip—dripping
Blood from veins
Die—dying
Still the birds sang…
“No angel came…”
--Tori Amos
The desert wind blew into her face as she ran. The thirst seemed to swell in her, making her throat feel as though it were on fire. Her arms and legs were cramping. The hot, sharp sand blew into her face, rubbing it raw. And still she ran. She ignored the bile filling her stomach, threatening to come to her throat. She ignored the tears stinging her eyes. All she knew was that she had to get there as soon as possible. She had to fix this thing. This horrible and impossible thing that had happened. And it was all her fault. Guilt-ridden and bone driven she ran. God, she was tired.
Celeste Alexander woke up with a gasp. She was covered in sweat, her skin sticking to the sheets. And her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. She’d had another nightmare again. Every night it was the same. She wondered sometimes if her life wasn’t just one huge nightmare. It sure had seemed like that ever since she’d turned 17. And now here she was in a strange place filled with strange people. In a room that felt foreign and empty dreaming dreams that no one should ever have to dream.
Celeste was 17 years old and about 5 feet and 7 inches tall. Her long red hair hung down as she hastily pulled her fingers through it to pull out any knots. Her soft gray eyes were red rimmed from lack of sleep and stress and she was slightly thinner than she used to be. And her ears were pointed at the top, giving her a mischievous elfin appearance. But she didn’t even notice these changes, or if she did, they didn’t seem important.
She felt the arm on her shoulder before she realized anyone was in the room and she cried out in shock. She turned around to see Shannon Watson, or Mystikal as she was called here, her best friend.
“I heard you cry out,” Mystikal whispered, her light blue eyes showing her concern.
“I didn’t cry out,” Siren answered through clenched teeth. “You heard that in your head.” Mystikal considered this and decided that it was probably true. Her extreme telepathic powers made her feel like she was actually hearing people say things out loud that they were actually only thinking in their head.
“I’m sorry,” Mystikal said soothingly. “I didn’t do it on purpose. And I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.” Siren couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s concern. If nothing else, it was great to be around someone who actually cared.
“Thank you, Shannon, I’m fine now,” Siren answered. Mystikal smiled back and perched on the edge of Siren’s bed.
“So what do you think of the Grey Court so far, Celeste?” Mystikal asked. Mystikal was much taller than Siren at 5’10 with very long, curly silver hair and ice blue eyes. Her appearance made many people stare at her, not with fear as it was for many mutants but with wonder. Siren cocked her head to the side as she rested her chin on her knees.
“Well, Daemon and Marvel Girl scare me,” she admitted with a slight laugh. Mystikal laughed with her understandingly.
“Yes, they can seem quite. . . stern at first. But when you get to know them they aren’t so bad. Or so I’ve heard,” Mystikal offered. The truth was Mystikal was fairly new to the Grey Court also and was just learning the ropes.
“Well, Maul scares the shit out of me,” Siren said flatly. “I mean, besides the fact that he’s a vampire, which is creepy enough. He just acts creepy!”
“I know,” Mystikal agreed. “But Scrib and Echo seem really nice.”
“Yeah, they’re okay,” Siren agreed. “And Martin Blank seems pretty cool too.”
“And you haven’t met Byron,” Mystikal added.
“Yeah, the hell goddess. I’m sure she’s a real happy-go-lucky gal.”
“And Loki. . .”
“God of Lies and the grey assassin. We have a real winner there!”
“He’s entertaining,” Mystikal offered.
“Yeah, if you like killing small animals and scaring children,” Siren responded, rolling her eyes. Mystikal giggled and playfully punched Siren in the arm.
“C’mon, you haven’t even met them yet! At least give them a chance!” Siren gave her a sarcastic smile, but decided that she was right. She honestly didn’t know how Mystikal remained so hopelessly optimistic but there was something very attractive about it. And it seemed to be contagious. She laid back down as Mystikal walked out and the rest of her night was blissfully peaceful. Maybe this place isn’t so bad . . . she thought.
He laid himself carefully in the shadows to wait. He felt every muscle in his body tighten and then concentrated on making each muscle relax. He couldn’t move . . . he couldn’t even twitch. Still he waited. He would wait for hours if necessary. If you knew him, you would never think that he would be able to stay still that long. Maybe that was why he was always moving when he wasn’t on the job. He was trying to make up for something. He knew it was wrong. But the part in him that cared had died a long time ago. Killing people was a brutal, brutal thing. But it was scary how natural it was for him. And it was scary how quickly he got used to it. He remembered very vividly the whole learning process. The first man he killed . . . how he had shot him in the stomach. How he had bent over the body and seen the man dying. How he had recognized the man. And then the sickness. He had felt dizzy . . . and part of him knew that he would never be the same. Jacob Kendall died that day and Loki was born. Yet, he had always liked Jacob Kendall better. By the time he had killed his fifth man, he hardly felt a thing. “It’s who I am,” he reminded himself. Yet he only felt angry. But instead of directing his anger at himself he always directed it at others. It was what got him where he was today.
Jacob decided to risk glancing at his watch. He had been sitting in the same place for over two hours. Sometimes he really hated this job. But what was he supposed to do? Go try to get hired at the Gap? Somehow he doubted that would work. His black eyes scanned the building in front of him for some sort of movement. No . . . nothing. So he kept waiting. Then he saw it. . the slight movement that immediately alerted all of his senses. He felt himself tense up, felt his finger automatically apply pressure to the trigger. Find the chest . . . aim for the heart. He concentrated until small beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Then he saw the figure step out, moving slowly and obviously unaware that he was being watched . . . and targeted. Loki heard a faint noise coming from the building and concentrated on it. Whistling. The man was whistling to himself. Loki almost laughed. This was going to be too easy. Then he had the man completely in range. From what he could tell, he was a tall guy wearing a baseball cap and dark sunglasses. He didn’t wonder why he was being assassinated. That part of the deal never concerned him . . . or maybe he knew that if he let it, he was done for. He clenched his teeth and aimed his gun at the guy’s heart. And then heard a noise that made him stop dead in his tracks.
“Good GOD, it’s hot out here!” the man yelled, obviously talking to someone in the building. Loki stared, gun still raised, finger still on the trigger.
“I mean, you really should come out and see!” the man added, pulling off his hat and removing his sunglasses. Now Jacob could clearly see the pale skin with freckles, the green laughing eyes, the bushy eyebrows and brown hair that came just below his ears. Loki’s eyes glazed over, almost turning completely black as he numbly lowered the gun. There was no way he could do it. He couldn’t understand why they wanted him to, but it didn’t matter. Yes, he was an assassin, but he was no monster. And there was no way he could shoot his friend. No way he could kill Greg.
Loki, the grey assassin