04
Hidden Angels
The wind whisked both of the young girls' hair, both groaning at the pestering strands getting caught in their lashes and mouths while they were conversing. Their feet dangled off of the ledge of the building, their fear of heights shriveling away with the soothing sound of chirping birds and cars in the distance. They held a decent conversation, one that wasn't too amiable since they still contained no information about one another, small chat about the weather in Amaya's town. She dwelled in New York City, busiest of busy, with beeping cars, advertisements gleaming on infinite skyscrapers, and the latest trends striding down the sidewalks; it truly was the city that doesn't sleep. They also found out more about each other as time ticked and the sun began to set from a milky blue to a yellowish pink, same age (if you don't count that Aika was born three minutes and twenty-seven seconds earlier than Amaya), originally were raised together but then separated, and shared similar characteristics not only in appearance and physical traits but also personalities.
"So, when did you know you were an angel?" Amaya asked, her chin resting on her arm that was propped up by her knee.
"When I was young and understood more about heaven and hell. Clovis explained to me what happened and what I needed to do."
Amaya gazed with wonder and excitement as her sister described the hardships of balancing body weight while in flight and demons' throats she had sliced open, drawing pictures in the late autumn air with hand gestures.
"Who's.." She said the name with caution, "Clovis?"
"Our messenger. He was the one who brought us to Earth, I guess you could consider him our guardian angel."
"Did he come with you?" She inquired, wanting to know more about someone who could hint about her second life. Sadly, the girl shook her head and with that, their chatting came to cease and they headed out to the other's current reside; a beat down apartment that smelled of rat piss and mold, well the outside retained that stench.
"Damn, it smells horrible," Aika plugged her nose at the unusual odor. She had grew up, most of her childhood, on a ranch in the rural region of California where Poppies thrived freely in the Mojave Desert. On a typical day, she and Clovis would go horseback riding as he told ancient tales as old as time itself. She had missed those days, when her young self wasn't preoccupied with the idea of searching for her parents and loosely lived as an adolescent.
Amaya shrugged, "You get used to it after awhile."
The small open-spaced room contained a futon, an adequate kitchen, a dining table that could only hold three to the max, and a bathroom down the hall, along with a laundry room. Not that bad, Aika thought as she gave a brief inspection of the tiny abode. She smirked at the stains on the carpet, it definitely was a well-used room before her sister grabbed a hold of it. But little did she know that Amaya worked at a coffee shop until the wee hours of the morning to retain a stable place to stay, all while attending school and receiving acceptable marks on her report card. Along with that, she now had to juggle the thought and knowing of existing as a celestial being and the fact that her relationship with her boyfriend had diminished into thin air. Though he had stepped out of her life, her own sister that shared the same blood and flesh came in. She was thankful.
"What do you want to drink?" Amaya asked, rummaging through the door of the refrigerator.
"What do you got?"
"Coke, water, and orange juice. Chose you poison." She grabbed two sodas after given her answer, shut the door, and cracked the cans open.
"Thanks," Aika tipped her can towards her as a kind yet chic gesture. "You got a man?" She asked suddenly, swallowing the rest of the content in her can.
"No, I mean, not anymore," Amaya swung another chug at the Coke in her hands, hoping and praying it would wash the memories of him away. "He called it off."
"Aw, man. I'm sorry to hear-"
Amaya waved her hand, signaling it was alright when clearly with the pained and furrowed expression she wore it simply wasn't. Aika nudged her, raising her eyebrows as curiously burned to be filled in on all of the details. She wanted to, to spill her entire life story and difficulties that she had to sufferingly endure alone, but she barely knew of her own sister that she couldn't trust her with information so sensitive; not when they just met.
I'm sorry, I just can't, Amaya thought.
"Fine, don't. It's not like I wanted to hear it anyways," Aika walked away, peering over her shoulder to see if she bought her little act. Her eyes bore daggers into hers, forcing her to seal her lips and put the topic to rest.
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