• It was Saturday and there was nothing to do. It was pouring rain and the electricity was out. I sat in my dark gloomy room watching cars splash through puddles as they raced to get home.

    I sat there for what felt like hours and finally fell asleep. A few minutes later I woke up from a loud clatter down in the kitchen. I slowly poked my head out of my room and started to creep down the old squeaky stairs. I turned the corner and felt a terrible chill down my spine as I saw a huge black figure standing over a pool of blood. I could see the walls splattered with blood too as the dim candles that lit up the kitchen flickered.

    I tried to scream but it was no use nothing came out. It looked at me with its dark red eyes and I could feel that I was as good as dead. It crept closer and closer in the dimness of the kitchen, as it walked by the flickering candles, they went out. I tried to look around the dark figure to see who or what was there but I only saw a glimpse. There was a hand with a wedding ring on it and a foot with purple nail polish. I stared horrified of what I saw. Looking back at the monster scared of what was going to happen to me; my life flashed before my eyes. I closed my eyes trembling.

    I kept screaming in my head over and over. It can’t be them! It just can’t be mom and dad! They can’t be dead!

    I felt tears starting to slide down my cheeks, but then I felt a touch my shoulder and my eyes shot wide open to see a clear view of this horrendous face. This thing had to be a guy; there was no way that a woman would have such large hands. He was like pitch black smoke, but I could see that his lips were sown together lousily. I stared up into his large red eyes and they seemed so full of sorrow and pain. I stopped shaking from fear, but now I was shaking from sadness. Then he quickly stepped back and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

    I stood there for a while. I fell to my knees and started to cry as I saw the battered bodies of my mom and dad lying on the bloody floor dead. I stood up trembling and staggered over to the phone. I called 911 and screamed into the phone, “Help! Help! They’re dead! My mom and dead are dead!” Then I fell to the floor still crying as I slowly faded.

    When I woke up I was in the hospital. I could hear the monitor that checks your heart rate and ear shattering squeaks from wheelchairs. I started to sit up but two massive hands pushed me back down. Hearing someone say, “Lay down. You’re alright, but I need to ask you some questions.” I obeyed the command.

    I opened my eyes slowly to see a husky looking police man sitting next to me. “I know what you want to know.” I paused, thinking about what the police asked people in the show CSI. “Sir, I only remember seeing a dark figure standing above my dead parents and then seeing their torn apart bodies on the floor.”

    He seemed shocked about what I had said to him. “A-alright,” he stuttered. “If you remember anything else call me at this number.” he handed me a business card and I took it.

    Later that day I was released from the hospital and I finally went home. It was so difficult to walk back into the place where I saw my parent’s dead bodies. I walked through the house seeing flashbacks of what happened. I ran upstairs and started to cry.

    A few days went by, it was Wednesday. All that happened that night almost seemed like a dream, no more like a nightmare. The only things that snapped me back into reality were the gossip about that night and the police. People in school and the police kept asking about it but I couldn’t bring myself to tell them. I looked down feeling like I was going to cry and they saw my reaction so they left me alone. I was all alone now, no friends and no parents. What was I suppose to do if I got kicked out of my home? Where would I go? I kept thinking about where I would go all day. Finally the bell rang and I ran out to the courtyard. I flipped out my cell phone and saw the officer’s card. I wondered if I should call him or not.

    I decided to call the husky police man and tell him I wanted nothing to do with the case. He said it was fine but he had to have someone watch after me. I told him I didn’t need to have someone watch over me and that was final. I hung up the phone and started to walk home.

    When I got home I saw a car in the driveway. I slowly walked over to find a man sitting in the front seat. It was almost like he was sleeping so I knocked on his window. When I did, he jumped and hit his dead on the roof and looked at me. He got out of his car and rubbed his head.

    “What are you doing here? Are you with the police?” I asked angrily. “If you are then go away! I already told you that I wasn’t going to be involved in this case.”

    The man stood there for a second and then laughed, “Oh, dear no. I am not with the police. I’m just here to check up on you.” He paused. “So, how are you doing?”

    I stared at him with shock and disbelief, and then said, “I’m fine and you? Wait, first who the heck are you?!”

    “I’m Max and I am doing well.” He chuckled. “You must be April.”

    “Y-yes, that’s me…but how do you know my name?” I stuttered stepping back.
    He looked into my eyes; it felt like he was peering deep into my soul. “Sorry if I scared you. It’s just that your parents told me to come and check on you if I thought something happened.” He paused to think. “Has anything strange happen lately?”

    “Like what?” I looked at him strangely.

    “I don’t know something like a black figure.” He looked away nervously.

    I was shocked. How did he know about the black figure? Is he really who he says he is? Could he be the black figure? I kept coming up with different scenarios in my head. They played over and over again. I couldn’t stop the movies playing in my mind but then I broke out of my trance when Max started to talk.

    “Hello? Are you ok?” He looked at me with worried eyes.
    I nodded not able to respond. I looked down at my shoes scared to think if he was that monster. I closed my eyes then opened them as I looked back up at him. I gasped in shock and pointed behind him.
    He turned around and said, “What? Is something there?” He looked back at me.

    My hand started to shake at that moment. “Y-you…” I stuttered. “You have angel wings!”

    As Max herd what I said he stepped back shocked. “H-how… can you see my wings?!”

    “I don’t know! Why do you have wings?!” I questioned him.
    He looked down almost like he was scared. I walked closer to him stretching out my hand to touch his wings but pulled my arm back as he flinched. I looked at him with concerned eyes then looked back at his wings. They were so pretty. They glowed so brightly with this amazing white light. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t see this before.

    I asked myself over and over again in my head, what is he? Is he an angel, fallen angel, an immortal being, or maybe a ghost? I just can’t tell.

    I looked at him and then stared at his wings, “So what are you?”

    Max stared at the ground for a minute then looked at me very seriously. “I am an angel but you must not tell anyone. They might think your crazy…”

    “Why would they think that?”

    “Only people that truly need to be saved from the darkness can see my wings”

    I looked at him strangely, “Oh, okay.”

    I took a step back and looked down at my feet. I thought about if I should invite him in my house or not. I kept thinking then looked up and said, “Hey, you want to go inside?”

    “Sure” he said.

    We started walking up to the porch when I felt something touch my arm. I looked back at Max but he was to far away to have grabbed my arm, so what did? I thought about it for a while, as we finally reached the back door I finally got an answer. It has to be that monster. It just has to be. I thought to myself.
    As I unlocked the door and opened it I felt a terrible dark feeling. I shuttered and stepped back. Max stepped in front of me as I saw the dark monster appear in the kitchen again. I tried to look by him but he quickly spun around and wrapped his wings around us as he screamed in agony. I was still in shock from the monster appearing but I grabbed Max’s arms and jumped back out of the way of its attack.

    When I jumped back I accidently hit the railing on the porch and my whole body went numb. I knew I still had motion in my hands as they twitched in Max’s wings. I felt someone’s body heat around me. When I opened my eyes he was kneeling over me.

    “Ouch, my head.” He rubbed his head then looked at me. “Oh dear… I’m sorry…” he paused to get up. “Are you alright?”

    “Yeah, I think.” I said twitching my hand once more.

    “Can you get up?” He said concurringly.

    I shook my head; no I wasn’t able to get up. I felt as if I was frozen in a block of ice, cold and unmovable.

    I looked back at the door and saw the black smoke of a man watching me. I flinched back as he moved. It seemed like he was going to come out and attack but he just stayed inside. I sat there and watched the door as it closed on its own. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder shaking me. The hand was soft and gentle not like the black figure. I looked over and saw Max.

    “Hey are you ok? April? Answer me, please!” He said almost in tears.

    “Huh?” I paused to think about what he was saying. “Oh, yea, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

    I looked back at the door and studied it for a while. I started getting the feeling back in my legs and stood up wearily. I leaned against the railing for support until I could stand by myself. I looked down at my feet and stared at them hard.

    “Dang I can’t go back in there.” I whispered to myself.

    Max must have heard me because the next thing surprised me. “Don’t you have a place to stay at, like with friends or family?”

    “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t.”

    I saw him out of the corner of my look down then look back up at me.
    “If you want, you can stay at my place for a while.”

    I looked up, “A-are you sure it’s ok with you? I don’t want to bother you.”
    “Yeah, it’s fine with me.”

    “Okay.”

    We went back down to the driveway after I locked up the house. We then got into his car, me in the passenger seat and Max in the drivers. He backed out of the driveway and started to go up the main street. He then took a right on a hidden street and started going down all different types of winding roads. I stared out the windshield watching the road until I got dizzy.

    After a while we stopped at a small tan house in the middle of nowhere. Max turned off the car and stepped out then started to walk towards the door. He stopped to see me still in the car. He waves at me to come with him, so I get out of the car and run after him. We stood at his front door as he unlocked it and opened it.

    Max led me into the house and gave me a tour. He said I could take his room but I objected and lost. I walked down the hallway and found myself in his bedroom. It was extremely weird for me to take his room but I sat on his bed. I started to think about how this would all turn out. I laid down on the soft bed and its covers that engulfed me. So much happened in the past few days, I thought to myself and quickly fell asleep.

    I woke up to an amazingly delouses smell, so I let my nose lead me. Following my nose down the hall figuring out what I smelled, I turned the corner into the kitchen. I knew I smelled hamburgers. I thought to myself.

    The juices were sizzling so softly in the pan and the room was filled with the aroma. I think I had a goofy expression on because the next thing I heard was Max laughing. I looked over at him with an evil glare that quickly turned into a smile as his perfect smile lit up the room. I started to laugh too. This whole experience felt like a dream, a true happy dream. It was so amazing.

    After we finished laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe, we ate. I swore I hadn’t hamburgers this well in so long. I remembered how my dad used to always make hamburgers in the summer and how juicy they were. I took another bite to stop daydreaming about the past as my eyes started to fill with tears.

    The past… I thought. It was only about a week ago I last saw my parents… How could that be? It feels like it had been years since I last saw them. Tears stared to tumble down my face and I whaled out in sorrow.

    Max looked up at me and ran to my side. “Hey are you alright?”

    Tears kept rolling down my face like an avalanche. “No… I keep remembering things about my mom and dad.”

    I dropped the burger on my plate and covered my face. Gentile and warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. Pulling my hands away from my face and looking up with watery eyes I saw Max. Wrapping my arms around him I started to cry again.

    “It’s ok. Let it all out. Let it all out.” He whispered stroking my head.

    I did let it all out. I let it out so bad I feel asleep in his cradling arms. I feel into a dream where it seemed like I was awake. I was still in the kitchen crying in

    Max’s arms when we heard banging on the door. Holding max closer I shivered at the thought of who or what was there. I could see in his eyes he was worried to so we both went to the door. When the door was opened we both froze as we saw the man that killed my parents.

    I woke up gasping for air to scared to go back to sleep. Looking around I realized I was in Max’s room. Had it all been a dream? No, it couldn’t all have been a dream. My mouth still tasted like burgers. From not moving I could hear mumbles in the other room, so I got out of bed and walked carefully to the door. Leaning my head against the door I could hear better but I still couldn’t understand who was talking or what they were talking about.

    Maybe it’s the TV. I thought.

    Opening the door slowly I squeezed through and walked up the hall swiftly. I looked into the living room and found Max asleep on the couch with the TV on. Being too scared to go back to sleep, I walked over to Max and lightly shook his shoulder. His eyes twitched and then slowly opened. I sat down on the floor so he wouldn’t have to sit up.

    “Huh…? What’s wrong April?” He rubbed his eyes.

    “I-I can’t sleep.” I said looking down. “I’m too scared.”

    “Oh, I see.” He mumbled.

    “C-can you… um…” I stumbled over my words.

    Tiredly he smiled and said that he understood. I stood up and helped him up. We walk back to the room in silence except for occasional yawns. Max grabbed another blanket from the closet; I swore it wasn’t here before.

    I sat at the end of the bed as he crawled in and covered himself with the other blanket. I looked over my shoulder to see him as I thought, dang this is so awkward!

    I crawled into the other side and slid over until I was holding his hand. I covered my face with the blankets so he wouldn’t see that I was blushing. Poking my head out from under the blankets I saw him smiling then fall asleep. I stared at his face as he slept. He looked so peaceful. I shook my head and laid back down blushing even more than I already was. I yawned a few times then fell asleep.

    I woke up feeling like I was on fire. I looked up and saw Max’s face. I tried to move away but it was no use, he had his arm wrapped around me. I squirmed a bit but then stopped dead. I looked at the end of the bed and saw the black figure. I started to scream scared for my life. I shook Max over and over again.

    “Max! Max! Please wake up!” I yelled.

    Max’s eyes shot wide open and jumped out of them bed. He stood there waiting for the black smoke to attack. His bloody red eyes looked at me and then at Max as he disappeared. Max looked around uneasily, waiting and waiting, studying everything carefully.

    All of a sudden I felt a hateful chill go down my back. I turned around and he was standing right behind me. I jumped back but then he reappeared behind Max. He had a scythe to his neck. I took a step forward but the scythe got tighter around Max’s neck.

    He’s going to kill him! I screamed in my head.

    I took another step forward and said, “Listen, you don’t want him… You want me. Leave him alone and take me instead.”

    The monster and Max both looked over at me but Max was the only one who spoke. “Don’t do it! April don’t!”

    The monster let go of Max and walked over to me. “You have chosen wisely” He said in a bone chilling voice. Then he took his scythe and sliced down my chest to my legs.

    I fell to the floor in a horrible shriek. Laying on the floor seeing my life flash before my eyes and blacked out. I was sitting in the dark curled up in a ball.

    No one is going to save me, I thought, no one.

    I buried my head face in my knees but then felt a warm light reaching out to me. I saw a hand and took it. When I came back to I was choking on blood from the deathly strike. I opened my eyes to see Max crying, his warm tears fell against my face.

    “M-Max… don’t cry…” I gasped for air.

    His eyes shot open. “I-I can’t stop the tears. I can’t lose you. Please just hang on.”

    “Max… It’s my time.” I paused to take a breath. “Please… Don’t cry, not over me…”

    He pulled me close to hug me. “I’m so sorry… I couldn’t protect you…”

    I smiled as my eyes slowly closed shut. The last thing I heard from Max was, “I love you…”
    -----

    I shot up in bed, screaming and shaking. The door flew open and my mom and dad came running in. They look at me with worried eyes as I looked at them socked. I started to cry and jumped into their arms.

    “Mom, dad, Your okay!”

    “Yeah, but why wouldn’t we be?”

    “I had the worst nightmare… That’s all.”

    After that night everything was normal. I had no freaky dreams like that for a few years. I started having these dreams again around the same time as the years before.