I GROANED AT the sound of my phone dinging, alerting me that I had an incoming text message. I knew exactly who the text was from and didn't want to answer it. I already felt bad for lying to my mom about not feeling well in order to stay home from school like I had insisted earlier that morning when I first texted Deidre.
I felt awful about lying to my mother. It was bad enough my mother was struggling to pay the bills, keep a decent roof over our heads and food on the table, working doubles almost every day.
The last thing I needed to do was add more unnecessary stress on my mother's plate.
I was lying on my back with my left arm folded behind my head, staring up the ceiling.
I sighed deeply remembering what happened back at the enchanted forest.
The sound of the black-winged creature's voice telling me these two worlds co-exist in my eyes and that I can cross between realms, echoed eerily in my head.
Pass through your own Nexus…
Alex's words puzzled me. What's a Nexus?
Suddenly, there was a knock on my door, startling me out of my reverie. Who could be knocking at my room? Did I leave the door of the house open?
"Ani?" Alex called through the door.
I pushed myself off my bed and let out a gasp of surprise as I swung the door open. My mouth moved but no sound emerged.
Alex was on his real form. He looked like the angels in Renaissance paintings. His golden blonde spiky hair flipped at the ends slightly. His eyes were dazzling shades of green and blue.
He looked like majestic and like a true warrior of God. He was handsome in a scruffy, surfer dude way, only ethereal.
"What brings you here?" I asked, meeting his gaze.
"I think It's time for you to know the truth about your existence. You shouldn't have known any of these but things are getting out of hand. You're slowly discovering your powers and using it to harm others."
"What do you mean powers?" I arched a questioning eyebrow and took a few steps back to let him in.
Alex folded his wings behind his back and stepped inside my room.
"What the hell happened at that forest? Why do you look like…that? Where did you get those…abs?" I looked away as soon as I said those words. "What's the meaning of all these, Alex?"
"What do you want to know?" The soothing tone of his voice is making me lose my train of thoughts.
"Everything."
His gaze was steady and unwavering.
"Like what I have told you Ani, we are not alone in this world. When the world was young, supernatural creatures walked among mankind freely," Alex began as he paced back and forth in my room.
"Chaos reigned when the supernatural beings sought supremacy. The human race nearly vanished from of the face of the earth. Demons inhabited their bodies. Dark creatures preyed on the weaker ones. The angels of God tried to stop them but they failed. Demons and angels fell in love with each other and produced offspring."
"What?" I frowned. "Angels and demons fell in love?"
Alex nodded.
"Their offspring are still angels because demons are fallen angels, right?"
"No," Alex vehemently shook his head. "Demons aren't fallen angels. Demons are disembodied spirits. They possess the powers of the dark world. They crave bodies desperately, and if need be, they will settle and inhabit. Whereas, fallen angels are those who chose to rebel and were cast out of Heaven."
"So, what do you call their offspring?"
"They were called Nexi. Abomination," Alex uttered and stared deep in my eyes.
"Nexi?"
"Look Ani, souls need a Nexus to go to the place of purging but..." Alex trailed off and shook his head. "It shouldn't happen when you crossed the other side. They shouldn't pass through you. They have their own Nexus. It doesn't make sense."
My brow wrinkled. I flopped on my bed processing everything but nothing makes sense.
"I'll tell you more. For now, all you need to know is that I am here to protect you, Ani. Whatever happened, do not succumb to darkness. One misstep means an irreversible retribution, then I can't protect you anymore."
I felt goosebumps run down my arms.
"I have to go." Alex quickly turned his back. His wings instantly fanned out like a soaring bird.
"Wait," I called. I watched as his wings began to shrink until they receded into his back again, a pair of intricate angel's wings tattoos the only evidence they existed.
Alex turned around and walked over to my bed and sat next to me.
"So that's why you don't want angel wing tattoos on your back because you already have real ones?" I tried to come up with anything to fill the awkward silence.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"So...you mentioned about Nexus." I managed to look into his eyes.
I used to have these moments with Alex, but with his shirt on, of course. He'd occasionally do a sleep over, especially those nights that I'm being haunted by my lucid dreams.
No wonder, he was an angel. I find myself in a strange sense of peace whenever he was around.
"Ani," Alex breathed. His face came dangerously closer to mine. "You ar—"
"Ani! Ani!" A female scream pierced my hearing and I recognized it almost immediately. Deidre's voice filled the entire room when she saw a half-naked Alex.
"D, calm down," I told her.
"What's going on?" Paris came running into my room. Her eyes went wide and she screamed with Deidre.
"Both of you, stop screaming," Alex said and they both instantly calmed down.
Deidre's chest heaved with labored breaths and Paris' opened mouth slowly closed.
"Just calm down." Alex walked up to them. He had inched closer with every word, using his most entrancing voice to try and calm them down. "Why don't you just check on your friend and forget that you saw me here," Alex suggested in his hypnotic voice.
In a split second; he was gone.
Their eyes blinked a few times as if they'd just woken from a trance.
Deidre and Paris looked at each other and seemed like they were completely unaware of what had happened.
"Ani!" Paris yelped when she regained consciousness. "You have to come with us."
"Why? I'm not feeling good, Paris. I can't go with you guys."
"Tell her." Deidre eyed Paris.
"Tell me, what?" My eyebrow scrunched up together.
They didn't answer.
"What it is, D?" I pressed on.
"Dr. Christensen called Daisy and she told us your Mom was in the hospital. She was hit by a truck," Paris said. "I'm sorry, Ani."
"What?" A feeling of dread came over me and I jolted out of bed. "No, not my mom. This isn't happening. Where is she?"
"At Oblivion Med," said Deidre.
"Ani..."
Suddenly, I heard the distant sound of my mom's voice calling my name.
"Mom?"
I figured I had to run fast to get to the hospital.