An Angel's Blood: A Hitch in Life (Part 2)

It was Friday and I was shining like the summer sun. School had just let out for summer break—my last one before college—and I was a free woman! I walked to my car in my new outfit (courtesy of mom and Dad’s sudden trip last weekend) and drove home, or tried to.

            My house was a mile away from the school with and short stretch of barely traveled road leading to the front of it. This road was surrounded on either side be woods. It was on this road that I saw something. As soon as I made the sharp 100 degree turn onto this road, my vision turned sepia, the kind you see in old photographs.

            I blinked a few times, but nothing changed. My surroundings were different too. Instead of the young maples and oaks or the paved road, there was a meadow populated with small log houses, kind of like the historical re-creations at the local museum. I stopped the car, shocked, and opened the door. Except, as soon as I put my foot on the dirt road, my vision turned back to normal, and the illusion of the village was gone.

            I drove the rest of the way homes in a trance. What had just happened to me? Was that actually real or was my mind just playing a trick on me? I couldn’t figure it out. Mom was waiting for me and I decided that I was definitely keeping what had just happened to myself. I knew that if I told her, she would immediately send me to a psychiatrist, thing that I had lost my mind. What if I had? Lost my mind, I mean. That could be possible.

            “Hi honey! How was your last day of school?” asked Mom, breaking my reverie.

            “Oh the usual. Screams and raging hormones basically cover it,” I casually replied.

            “Well then go and get packed while I get you something to eat.”

            “Packed?”

            “Yeah, your flight to Grandma’s is this Sunday morning. Don’t you remember?”

            “Remember? You never told me!”

            “Yes I did. Last Saturday morning, right before your dad and I left for the work trip.”

             Oh. So that wasn’t a nightmare. So then that meant… “I seriously have to go to Massachusetts?”

            “Yes,” replied the doom that was Mom’s voice.

            I stood, dumbfounded, for a moment. Then I quietly trudged up to my room. I was struggling with the turmoil in my head. How could she do that to me? She knows how much I hate it there. I have nothing against Grandma, it’s just that the town where she lives is one of the rainiest towns in America and I despise rain. I absolutely hate it. I curled up on my bed, not bothering to change my clothes. The happiest day of the year was turning worse by the second.

            My phone suddenly beeped and vibrated in my hip pocket. I sat up and looked to see what it was. My mood brightened a little when I saw it was a text from Alex, my boyfriend. Hoping it would cheer me up, I opened the text. In return I got another reason to cry. He had dumped me with a text, saying he didn’t want a long-distance relationship while in college. I couldn’t stop myself now. I started sobbing, ruined my makeup, and finally slept a deep, dreamless sleep. 

An Angel's Blood: Just the Beginning (Part One)

It was early Sunday morning. The weather was as stormy as my mood was—which rained the rains of Satan. Last week had started out like any other normal weekend. It was good, not great, but okay. Just like everyday, I had drove home from school on Friday and woken up super late on Saturday. Then suddenly, around one in the afternoon, when I had barely woken up, my Mom hit me with the news. My world came crashing down as soon as she uttered the dreaded words.

            “Wake up Evangeline… I know we have argued… you are moving to Grandma’s…the summer…” I only caught snippets of what she said through my drowsiness, but it was enough. The words brought sudden clarity to everything, my sight, and my emotions. I almost died with dread right then.

            “But…but…but,” I blubbered.

            “No buts! This is final and you are going to Massachusetts in a week so start packing your things,” said my mom, a little frustrated, and left.

            I sat on my bed for a while, still open-mouthed and unable to believe what I had just witnessed. After what felt like an hour, but was actually just a few minutes, I started going through the motions of waking myself up. Surely I would feel better when I was totally awake. Surely that was just a nightmare. It had to be. There was no other reason for Mom to be making such rash decisions. I hopped of my bed and groggily walked to the bathroom, rubbing my eyes. I stared at the mirror. A girl with bright red hair, dark green eyes and pale skin stared back. The odd gold fleck in the eyes glittered in the bathroom light. I looked away.

            Exactly one hour later I was clean, fresh, and fully functional. I threw on a light blue sundress with white flats and walked down the stairs. I opened the curtains and started making breakfast, my stomach grumbling.

            “Anyone want pancakes?” I called out. No one answered. “Hello?” I walked to the living room. No one was there. Huh. I walked back to the kitchen and looked around. I found a note on the refrigerator addressed to me.

“Hey Evie!

Your dad and I had to leave for the weekend for a work meeting. There is some money for you in the jar behind the fishbowl. We thought it would make you feel a little better after the news we gave you and then us leaving on such short notice. Spend it wisely! We will be back by Monday night. Stay safe!

Love, Mom and Dad”

            News? Double Huh.

            Mom and Dad didn’t usually leave without telling me at least a week before. I guess it must have been urgent, but it wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to. Still it was a shopping spree for me! I did want those new shoes I saw last weekend…

            “Morning Mustache!” I whispered to the goldfish as I looked for the jar behind its bowl. I took the money out and slipped it in a white purse. The cash felt heavy. Mom and Dad must have felt really guilty. I grabbed the car keys and walked out the door, feeling sincerely happy for the first time all day. That must have been a nightmare in the morning.