Angel of Music: Part one

by Dracona Dragillin

I used to have these dreams about a dark angel. I was falling and so terribly afraid. The force of the fall began to make me slip into unconsciousness. Then someone grabbed me. I looked at my rescuer and it's my dark angel. I never really got a good look at his face but I did get to see his eyes, which are as dark as midnight and filled with gentle love. Those eyes told me so many things. But then I'd wake up disappointed. I wanted to spend the rest of my life flying across the sky in his arms.

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Another way they like to insult me is by comparing me to my brother, Harry. Harry is on the football team, straight A student and everyone's favorite guy. Me, I'm a B or C student and a loner.

I heard heard something that sounded like a plate breaking. And then their voices got louder. Sitting there in my room, I could make out what they were saying to each other.

"You were with him again! Were you!?!"

"So what! It's not like I'm getting anything at home!"

I put my hands over my ears. I just couldn't listen to them anymore. Grabbing my guitar, I headed over to this window. After opening the window, a cold breeze hit my face. I slipped out the window and climbed down the trellis.

The woods beckoned me. It was the only place where I could go to play my music. Music seemed to be my only escape. Before me, after a bit of walking, was my favorite tree. It was the tallest tree in the woods and had these lovely wide branches on the bottom which were perfect for sitting on. Scrambling up, I seated myself and dragged my guitar up. My fingers idly strummed the guitars, flowing over the strings with lazy ease. After awhile the music began to form a tune. At first I hummed the tune but soon words softly came forth.

After a few songs, I started to get a strange feeling. Scanning the surrounding woods, I couldn't see anything. But the woods were too dark so I couldn't see far. This feeling started to unsettle me but I tried to ignore it and go on with my music. A few hours and many songs passed and I left.

There was nothing but silence when I snuck back into the house. I cleaned off my guitar and put it away. As soon as I hit the bed, I fell right to sleep. How much time passed I didn't know but I woke to hear Harry stumble into his bath room. Yep, he had probably just gotten back from another drinking binge with the rest of the football team. It was sort of ironic that I was "the bad child" and did nothing wrong and Harry was "the good child" and was usually on the wrong side of the law.

Harry's main problem was that he had no will power. He would do whatever Jason would tell him to do. Jason was the so called "brains" of the operation. Jason was the one who came up with all of the schemes like drinking binges, vandalism, driving recklessly, etc. Most of the town ignored most of this stuff because they didn't want their winning team to lose. So what else is new? Nothing would change. I fell asleep thinking these thoughts.

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On a particularly cold night, I sat, singing, in my tree. I knew that my audience was there. I had the same sort of happy quiver in my stomach which was the feeling I got when I knew that I was being watched. But the happiness quickly faded when I heard that voice. "Hey Hannah!" I heard Harry call out, "Come on down!"

I grabbed onto the tree. Something wasn't right. This fear was confirmed when I heard snickers in the bushes. "Why?" I called down to him, trying to sound calm.

"Come on sis! Do I have to go up there after you?" Somehow I knew he would. I slid off the branch and climbed down. I thought that if I went down there and let them make fun of me, then they'd go away, leaving me alone.

When I got to the ground, the rest of the football team stepped out. "You don't have to do this, man" Harry said.

"Fuck off," Jason looked at Harry disgustedly, "I want to have some fun."

Involuntarily I stepped back in fear. That's when two of the football players grabbed my arms. They shoved me forward but still didn't let go. Jason stepped forward, reeking of alcohol fumes. His hands trailed down my white blond hair, down they went and suddenly he grabbed my breast. His grip has hard and I softly cried out in pain.

"Please don't," I cried out.

His hand slammed into my face. "You can beg all you like but you're mine and no one's gonna hear you."

"I can," I heard a male voice that was calm yet cold with anger. Jason turned around and he yelled out in fear, "Oh shit!". It...no he leaped out of the bushes. He was tall and army green with brown hair. He had a pair of wings, four taloned fingers on each hand, and large bird-of-prey-like feet. I also noticed that he was only wearing a loincloth. I knew that he wasn't human. He slashed Jason's shirt to ribbons with one swipe. He then grabbed Jason, by the shirt, and growled right in his face, "Leave her alone!"

He let go of Jason. Scared, both Jason and the rest of the football team ran away. I slammed into the ground when the football players threw me down. I sat there staring at the creature, no I couldn't call him a creature. The weirdest thing was that I wasn't afraid. In fact, at that moment, all I felt was a mixture of curiosity and confusion. I didn't know what was going to happen but I wanted to find out.

After he watched them go, he looked at me, probably wondering why I didn't run off. "Thank you for helping me," I said calmly.

He gave me a puzzled look. "You're welcome," he said.

"Is there anyway I can repay you?" I really wanted to know and really wanted to help.

"That's all right. I enjoyed your music."

"So you were the one listening to my music?" I smiled, happy that I knew who was listening to me play.

He turned away, his skin darkened in shade. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was blushing. "I'm sorry," he stuttered, "I didn't mean to intrude. I'll go."

"No!" my heart twisting at the thought of him leaving, "Um what's your name?"

"My kind have no names," he looked at me as if he expected me to know.

"I don't mean to be rude but what are you...if I may ask?" I tried to put the question as delicately as possible. I didn't want to insult him.

"I am a gargoyle," his words were quick and tried not to reveal anything.

"Are there other gargoyles?"

His face fell. He spoke so softly that I could barely hear him, "Every night, for many years now, I have traveled alone. I have gone over a great distance and have not seen any of my kind." His wings wrapped around him protectively. I stood up and slowly walked over. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder which he shrugged away. We both stood there, frozen and unwilling to move.

After a few minutes of cold silence, he turned around and spoke. I didn't hear what he said so I looked at him questioningly. He sighed, "I had asked you what are you called."

I looked up into his eyes and saw that he was genuinely interested. "I'm called Hannah. My full name is Hannah Trenelle."

"Hannah," he repeated, "It is a very nice name."

Again we stood silently looking at each other. Then I got an idea, "Would you like to hear me play?"

He nodded and watched me sit down. Soon after I started to play, he sat down a few feet away from me. I played and sang for a few hours. He stood up and announced that he had to leave.

"Please don't," I asked.

"I must."

"Will you return tomorrow night?" I anxiously waited for an answer.

"I'd like that," he whispered and then ran away on all fours.

Anyone else would have followed him and tried to find out where he was going. But I didn't. I wanted to be his friend and for that I needed to trust him and for him to trust me.

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A week passed and I spent every night with my friend. He didn't say very much but one night he didn't say anything at all. All he did was stare at the ground. I stopped in mid song, not surprised to see that he didn't move. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He remained silent for several minutes. Then, slowly, he started to talk, "Gargoyles age half as slowly as humans. Which means that we live twice as long as humans. I had lived twelve years, six years in human age, when the plague hit. More than half the clan had died when I became sick. One night I wandered off, feverishly convinced that if I got away then I'd survive. I wandered for several weeks until I became well. I had no idea where my home was because I've wandered so far. I wandered for several years looking for my clan and then I gave up on that idea. I didn't know if my clan was still alive or if there were any gargoyles alive anywhere. But I continued my search but this time I searched for any clan. I just hoped that I would join them and live out my life with them. I've been alone and wandering for twenty years. Lately it's been so hard to keep hope. I'm tired and I just want to rest."

After his speech, I didn't care anymore about scaring him away. I put my arms around him. He leaned on me, resting his head on my shoulder. I held him close and let him rest. The gargoyle soon realized what he was doing and he gently pushed me away. "I'm sorry," he apologized quickly.

I shrugged and smiled, "That's what friends are for."

"Are we friends?"

"I hope so but if you don't like that..."

"No," the gargoyle cut me off, "I'd like that a lot. Thank you."

I smiled up at him, "That's the one of the great things about friendship. You don't really need to say thank you." He sat down next to me and for the first time ever, he smiled at me. I didn't make a big deal out of it. Instead I picked up my guitar and started to play another song.

The End of Part One.