Her Angel

I walked into my house, and of course it wasn’t huge, since it was just me and my dad, and he was hardly ever home. His deployment should have ended in June and he was meant to be coming back but… I wasn’t letting myself hope. I tossed my keys and my bag onto the kitchen counter, then went to my room and turned on the shower. Being home alone really sucks, its sad and sometimes even scary, but I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve basically lived by myself since my mom had died from cancer two years earlier. It was a brutal thing to come back from, and part of me still felt like I was not really okay. I missed her more than anything. After I finally finished my shower and locked up the house, I laid in bed, and as I curled beneath the covers I felt something. It was a presence, like somebody else was there even though I knew better. I clicked my lamp off and closed my eyes, school was starting again in a day. I started drifting into a really deep sleep when everything began to get and feel…weird. I was staring at this girl, and she looked innocent and… tired? Of what? She was only standing there like she was carrying around a lot of grief in her head. Dirty blonde hair fell around her soft face, and her crystal blue eyes caught anything they landed on. I heard a voice, “Mara… this is Delaney Foster, and she needs your help, you have to save her. You will meet her at school two days from now. You will watch over her and make sure she reaches her 18th birthday, and then you will be free of the Angel possessing you. Things are going to happen to you that are unexplainable, and when you wake up you will understand all of it… but this has to stay secret. She can not know you are sworn to protect her, or there would be consequences if she ever learned it.” I glanced toward the voice but all I saw was Delaney, and I smiled, feeling peace roll over me because she was alive and ok. I knew this girl somehow, I knew everything, and I hadn’t even met her yet. I didn’t get it then, but once I woke up I would. And that would be very soon. I woke with a gasp and looked around, I could feel Delaney, and I knew where she was and exactly what she was doing. She was asleep in bed at her house, a couple miles from mine. She was peaceful, she was happy, dreaming about herself and her little sister. I knew so much about her, what she had lived through, her family problems, her depression. Then all at once I was standing right in front of her. Was I even still dreaming? I bent down and brushed my finger over Delaney’s hairline, nope, I was actually awake. How had I ended up here? Had I somehow teleported? I could go anyplace I wanted to… then Delaney moved. No, she couldn’t see me, she couldn’t know the truth. I closed my eyes when I heard her sit up, waiting for a gasp, or for something to get hollered and thrown at me, but nothing came. I was afraid to open my eyes, because what if I did and whatever was making her not see me disappeared. I peeked and found Delaney staring right at me, but she didn't speak. I shifted aside, and her eyes stayed on the spot I'd been. I looked down and saw nothing, I was invisible… She laid back down, dragging her hand over her face before turning over. I glanced around her room, there were boxes, so she had obviously just moved here. I kept looking, seeing picture frames and clothes scattered all over. She looked like she’d been busy as she lay there in a tank top and sweat pants. I studied her, and now that I really saw her, she looked fragile. Still, she was more beautiful in person. I realized I was starting to feel like a creep, even if watching her was what I was supposed to do, and I knew she was fine. I just needed to figure out some way back… home. Then, as fast as I thought of it, I was there again, standing in my bedroom. This was unreal, and I had no idea what I was supposed to expect. My job was to protect Delaney until she turned 18 on May 21, which was 6 months away. I was hoping I could just follow my intuition, because other then what I knew of my powers and the mission, I still had no clue what was coming. But I could say one thing for sure, I was absolutely expecting a challenge.