Angel

It feels like forever until I feel Erin and Grayson pulling me up to my feet.

“Ludi, come on. Salan could come back for you.” Erin says gently.

“We shouldn’t have left,” I sob. “It’s my fault…”

“Come on,” Grayson says, and walks me back to the car. We get in, and Grayson starts to drive away. I can’t take my eyes off the spot where Lora disappeared. When we drive far away from it, I look back at the city outline of Oakview. I had been excited to go here, despite the fact that we’d been running away from Salan. Then, when that vanishes too, I stare at the seat beside me. Lora had been there ten minutes ago. Barely. And now my twin sister’s gone. Salan took her.

“Ludi?”

I look and see Erin’s staring at me with a worried expression.

“Ludi, are you alright?” She asks tentatively.

I take a moment to find my voice, and when I speak it wavers. “I - I can’t help her now… I might not see her ever again -”

My voice cracks and I feel tears clogging my throat, so I stop. Erin seems to understand, however.

“We’ll find her,” she says, reaching a hand to me. “You’ll see. The Angels will help us.”

When I don’t answer, she turns back to face the front. “Are we almost there, Grayson?”

Grayson shrugs. “We might be there in a few more minutes. Oakview is far from our home.”

I see Erin perk up a little. She’s just realized she can go back to her family. Her sister wasn’t just taken. She can leave...

“How’s Ludi doing?” Grayson asks.

Erin looks back at me. “Not good.”

“I didn’t expect anything more,” Grayson sighs. “Ludi, I’m so sorry about Lora.”

I still don’t answer.

“We’ll get her back. That won’t be the last time you see her.” Erin says.

“She was turning evil.” I say.

Erin and Grayson don’t answer this.

“Where did Salan come from?” Erin asks Grayson. “One moment we were there, and then suddenly he was flying away…”

“Maybe he can teleport…” Grayson mulls.

“Or he was following us to Oakview.” Erin says fearfully. “Maybe he knew that Joe took us and Lora and Ludi there. And he’s been waiting for his chance ever since we got there.”

“Then going outside was a mistake…” I say. “It is my fault.”

Erin bites her lip. “You didn’t know, Ludi. You couldn’t have known. It’s not your fault - it’s Salan’s.”

I sink back into my depressed ball on the seat.

“Could you go faster?” Erin asks Grayson.

“D’you want to get pulled over? I don’t want to get caught. Try thinking about ways to get to heaven, will ya?”

Erin falls quiet quickly. I stare out the window. I’m in shock. Lora was beside me moments ago, and now she’s gone…

My twin sister’s in Hell. And I don’t know if I can get her back.

“Oh! I know!” Erin says. “Salan dove into the ground, and that’s how he got to Hell! So what if we flew up into the sky to heaven?”

“Nope. Thousands of people have flown upwards in rocket ships or airplanes, and they’re most likely all still alive.” Grayson shakes his head.

“But they were just regular people! Maybe you have to be somewhat supernatural or something to get in alive.” Erin grins.

“Maybe.” Grayson thinks. “How do we fly up though?”

“Ludi can fly us!” Erin turns and looks at me again. I snap my wings out and she gasps at the left one, which is scorched like a log.

“Nevermind.” Erin sighs. “I’m really sorry about your wing, Ludi. Does it hurt much?”

“Not as much as…” I glance back at Lora’s seat. Erin makes a sympathetic face.

“Besides, I couldn’t have made it up there.” Grayson says. “I’m not mythical or supernatural like you two. I’m normal.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Erin says defensively.

I lean against the window, staring outside.

The rest of the drive is uneventful. Erin has no new ideas, and neither does Grayson. I don’t speak the entire time. It’s easier not to. The thoughts I have are too terrible. Nerdy Lora, turning evil, trapped in some demon - infested world with no chance of seeing me again.

We finally make it there, and I stare around the town. Again, tears crawl up my throat. I used to love playing at that park with Lora on the weekends…

“We’re home!” Erin says excitedly. “My parents! I can see them again! I wonder if they know about my centaur-ness.”

“And maybe mine will know if there’s a way into heaven,” Grayson says. “They work at the church.”

“Don’t straight up ask them,” Erin says. “They might be… well, concerned.”

Grayson lets out a bark of laughter. “Hah! ‘Concerned’... if they trusted me with scissors after I ask them, I’d be surprised.”

I press a hand against the window. Erin turns around (AGAIN) and sighs.

“Oh god, Ludi, I’m sorry. Here we are, talking about our family, when…”

“Just don’t,” I say to her. “Please.”

Erin nods and turns around, looking ashamed and hurt. But I feel like I can’t care anymore. Lora is gone, and they want to go back to their families. They’re laughing.

“We’re real inconsiderate,” Grayson says. “We’re sorry. We’ve never… well, this is all new for us. We don’t know what to do.”

I look out the window. Grayson exhales.

We don’t speak again until we pull up to the library.

“Ooh!” Erin squeals.

Lora loved the library.

“I figured we could read up a little about how to get to heaven.” Grayson says, unbuckling his seatbelt. Erin copies.

“Good idea, Gray.” I say.

Erin and Grayson look at me with nervous expressions.

“I can’t help Lora being a depressed ball of… scorched hybrid,” I say. “I’m… I’m going to get her back, I .. I know it.”

Erin smiles. “Good plan, Ludi.”

I avoid her smile and walk past them into the library. Immediately I feel calmer. The scent of old books reminds me of Lora’s room. I grin at the old books.

“Look for the religion books,” Grayson says. “Maybe we could find something there.”

“Maybe,” Erin says.

I immediately run to the kid’s books. When Lora and I went here, there was a book called Frogs and it was our favourite. There was no plot whatsoever, and all it had was a few pictures of derpy looking frogs. It made me happy whenever Uncle Salan used to visit.

“What are you doing, Ludi?” Grayson asks suspiciously.

“Checking out these books,” I say. “I wanna see if they still have my favourite.”

“Your favourite book is a kid’s book?” Grayson asks. Erin glares at him.

“Yeah. It’s called Frogs.” I say. “It made me feel better about myself sometimes.”

I hear Grayson scoff, and I roll my eyes. “You just don’t understand the beauty of derpy looking frogs,” I say. I feel satisfied when Grayson grins.

Disappointment rises up when I see that Frogs is no longer there. But another book catches my eye. “Erin, Grayson. Look at this.”

They come over, and I point at the book. It’s grey with orange writing. Heaven Exists.

Erin picks it up. “This is a three hundred paged book! What’s it doing in the kid’s section?”

“Em, can I help you?”

We spin around to look at the librarian, a tall lady with brown hair and grey eyes.

“No, we’re good,” I say. “Thanks.”

“The library is closed,” she frowns.

“That’s why there’s no people,” Grayson frowns. “It was confusing me.”

“There’s a sign on the door,” She points to the glass door.

“Ah,” Erin smiles weakly.

“A few more minutes,” I say. “It’s really important!”

Librarian lady sighs. “A few more minutes only.” She shuffles away.

“If the library was closed, what’s she doing here still? And why were the doors still unlocked?” Grayson frowns.

“You’re suspicious,” I say. “C’mon, look for things that can help Lora.”

Grayson shrugs and looks at the book. “D’you think this one will help us?”

“Worth a try,” Erin takes Heaven Exists out of my hands.

“Uh, Miss Librarian?” I say in the direction of the desk. “You there?”

There’s silence.

“I don’t feel too good about this,” Erin whines quietly as Grayson and I walk to the desk.

“Shh,” Grayson says.

“Hello?” I walk around a shelf of books. “Hello?!”

The desk is empty.

“Why would she leave three teens in a library unsupervised?” Erin wonders.

“Maybe she didn’t on purpose,” I say.

“Well that’s a nice thought!” Erin says nervously. “Jeez!”

Grayson sniffs.

“Shh!” I whisper. Erin raised an eyebrow at me.

“Sorry,” he says. “I have a bit of a cold.”

“Wait a second,” I frown. “I smell something burnt.”

“Next door is a restaurant, maybe they burnt something?” Erin says hopefully.

“Really? I didn’t know there was a restaurant next door.” I say.

“It’s not that good,” Erin reassures me.

“Stay focused please,” Grayson groans.

I jog to the desk and lean over it. There’s papers, a few books without covers, a few new books, a white feather, a computer, more papers…

I fall back with a sick feeling in my stomach. “Uh… Grayson?”

Of course Erin comes over too.

“What is it, Ludi?” Grayson asks.

“The librarian didn’t leave on purpose,” I say. “She was an angel apparently. And a demon took her, too.”

Erin gasps. “D’you think she’s okay?”

Grayson walks around the desk and leans over the feather. “It doesn’t look burnt. Remember, the other… incident left burnt feathers. So maybe she was just knocked out and dragged maybe?”

“Wow.” Erin glared. “Or maybe she has a bird and found it in her purse - or she had to go and forgot us and maybe it was easier to just fly-”

“If she’s an angel hiding in a library, I don’t think she’d want to fly home. And this couldn’t be a pet’s feather. Unless she owns a swan or some goose.” Grayson picks the feather up.

“Well I’m sorry, but I’m trying to be the positive one here!” Erin glares. I hug her.

“We appreciate it, Erin.” I say.

“Yeah, we do,” Grayson says somewhat distractedly.

Erin smiles. “Thanks.”

“The feather’s confusing me,” I say. “It doesn’t look like a Angel’s, but it isn’t rounded like a normal angel.”

“That’s confusing, Ludi,” Erin says. “But we should probably get out of here.”

“Why?”

“A demon was most likely here.” She says as though it’s obvious. Which it is.

“Right,” I say and run to the big glass doors.

“Um, Ludi? The demon could be out there still, waiting for you.”

I nearly open the door anyways. But I shake myself, because I’ll do no good to Lora dead.

“Come on,” Grayson says. “A friend of mine told me about the back staff door at the library, let’s use that.”

“The car -” I say.

“We’ll have to walk from now on, we can’t risk any demon Catching us. Besides, he/she might think that we’re still in here.” Grayson and Erin speed-walk to the back. I follow quickly, the papers on the desk flouting a little as I pass them.