Chapter 1

            I shouldn’t be alive. That’s what I think almost every day of my life. Being on Earth is just somewhere I shouldn’t be. I should be up in Heaven with my parents. Some people say that it was a miracle that I survived that crash. Others say that they should stay away from me because I cheated death and that when my death comes for me it will become tragic, involving other people around me. But in all honesty, I didn’t cheat death…at least not all by myself.

I was sixteen when I was in the accident. Four years ago tomorrow will mark the anniversary of it. It’s a mystery to anyone as it is still a mystery to me of how I got washed up on the beach while my parents were still in the car in the ocean with the doors locked and the windows intact. How I escaped and how I managed to survive it always itched at the back of my mind.

When I got taken to the hospital, not only were there doctors, but bright white lights the size of a normal human, whose physical appearances were too hard to decipher who they were, but they were right by everyone’s side. At first I thought that it was just the bright white lights above me. It wasn’t until a year later that I started to see their images more clearly. The way that they walked close to the person, and their beautiful white wings that seemed to shine like the sun on a summer day, along with their white clothes, all of them styled differently, and their luminous glow around them basically gave away who and what they were. They are beautiful creatures and I wish to talk to them, but they just ignore me, and I don’t blame them; I would look like a lunatic if I was talking to something that others can’t see.

My aunt and uncle took me in after I was released from the hospital, recovering from my wounds; although I had none that were extreme, I did have some light bruises randomly spread across my body. They had to be sure that the water that filled my lungs didn’t leave any damage; strange, because I didn’t inhale any water. And one significant spot that was located on the inside of my wrist; a silver outline of a wing that when shown in the light, it’s transparent, but in the dark it glows like a nightlight. I never told anyone about it, so I always wear bracelets or long sleeve shirts that they would cover it. Why it’s there and how I got it is a mystery.

            I never told of my gift to anyone; not my friends, or my family.

            If they ever, found out…

            Guardian angels are real and walk among us, although we can’t see them…except for me. I don’t know how I got this gift, but I want to say that the accident caused it. Every now and again whenever a customer comes into the clothing store that I work at, Angels Corner, yeah, ironic, right? They would always be there with them. Always. But it wasn’t just customers, they were with everyone, everywhere; whether it be walking, on a plane, in a car, or even on a boat, they will follow.

The sound of the bell ringing at the store door got me out of my thoughts. I was storing clothing on the racks; today I was putting up shorts for the summer time. I looked over and a girl around my age enters the store and was starting to look at the new arrivals. There was no denying it; she was the type of rich girl that you saw in movies. Typical attitude that she was better than everyone else and just by the look on her Guardian she has made some pretty bad choices in the past. Or perhaps she is still choosing the wrong decision. Her sunglasses were still on as she was looking at the clothes.

            “Hello,” I smiled, although I wasn’t really talking to her in particular. The girl ignored me as she kept looking. Her Guardian bent close to her ear and politely gave her advice to answer me back. If her sunglasses weren’t on, I would be able to see what her reaction is to her little “voice”. She sighed while giving me a quick nod.

            My other co-worker, Levy, was on lunch break; if you consider lunch being eaten at 5 in the afternoon. So, it was only me for an hour. Which was ok because it was the end of school at this time. Just over the summer is when I would worry when it was just one person running the store.

            “If you need any assistance or questions about our new products-” The girl snapped at me.

            “I’m fine thank you very much.” I caught a glance of her eyes hiding behind her sunglasses. Her eyes seemed droopy and tired. There seemed to be a bit of pink of where the white of her eyes are. She looked at the price tag on a purse, which was a whopping two-hundred dollars, and she smiled to herself. The Guardian furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, leaning down again near her ear and started to whisper.

            “You spent too much already, you’re out of control. Stop spending until you get your next paycheck.” He whispered softly.

            “Yeah, I hear that a lot,” I whispered.

            I could tell that he heard me, but, just like the rest, they ignored me. His eyes quickly looked my way, just to go back to his person. It wasn’t a surprise, but I wanted them to know that I could hear and see them. I didn’t get to the point if I found out if I could touch one yet, although I would just like to see how soft their wings really are.

            The girl shook her head, obviously ignoring her advice giver and brought over the purse to the counter. I sighed, knowing that I’ll have to deal with her, but to my surprise, when I asked for her signature, the minute that she took off her sunglasses, I could see that she was a bit hung-over. Well, that could explain perfectly where the attitude came from. Unless the alcohol increased it ten-fold. Either she looked older than her actual age, or she was actually 21.

            But my guess is that she wasn’t old enough to drink.

            “If you didn’t drink so much last night, then the lights wouldn’t hurt your eyes.” He whispered again. “You need to stop going to parties so much and study on your work. You’re a senior in high school!”

            “Good luck telling her that,” I said quietly as I was putting away the purse in the plastic bag.

            She obviously didn’t hear me say that, because now it looked like she was going to faint and get sick as she was walking out of the store. Before he could follow her any further, her Guardian stopped by the door and almost turned around, but he stayed still before walking through the doors and following the girl.

            I sighed, collecting the clothes hangers from behind the counter and put them back on the empty rack to put back in the stock room. I should’ve known that I shouldn’t even try to talk to them. But I know that they listen, but they never acknowledge it. If there was one thing that I never noticed is that they don’t notice that I have one. It’s like they saw it before. If there were other people that didn’t have a Guardian, please let me know, because then I might be able to feel…not as uncomfortable whenever I go over to a friend’s house.

            The door opened up again and in came Levy and her Guardian back from lunch. Her Guardian, whose name is nameless, just like every other Guardian that I saw, had short platinum blonde, almost white hair. He looked like he was in his mid 20s, but since they were angels they were probably a lot older than he looked. This Guardian always wore a white T-shirt and white pants, which were almost a jean-like material. I wasn’t going to lie when I say that he was rather good looking.

            “Have a nice lunch?” I asked as I looked at her halfway gone ice coffee.

            Working with Levy and her Guardian was hard at first, but overtime, I got used to seeing him following Levy everywhere. I let him do his work that he was given, which was advice of what to do when we were completely slow. But if there was one thing I noticed, he never talked about her life from outside of work.

            “Yeah, although I shouldn’t have gone to the expensive coffee shop that just opened.” She said coming to the counter, setting down her coffee.

            I looked over at her angel and figured that he told her after she got her lunch. “It is pretty expensive. I mean nine dollars for an iced coffee!” Levy shook her head and headed to the back room to put away her stuff, her Guardian floating right behind her.

            “Should’ve persuaded her more.” I whispered to him.

            The Guardian kept floating, ignoring me again. I feel like I was talking to a brick wall. Sighing, I grabbed a couple of signs to put on the front windows for our spring sale now that summer was just around the corner.

            “Are you putting up the signs for the sale yet? You know that our manager wants the posters up before the sale starts!” Levy yelled from the back room.

            “Putting them up now!” I answered back.

            Thankfully they were cling-ons this time. Putting them up by tape was always a hassle to do. I would always have to have Levy to help me on that as I would waste so much tape to put it on just one corner of the poster. I took a chance and looked outside, seeing that the sun was starting to set. The people crossing the street were hurrying to their parked cars along the side of the road, hoping that the meter wouldn’t run out of time; their Guardian would hurry along behind them, although they didn’t have to.

            Jealousy sometimes ran through my emotions whenever I would see other people’s Guardian’s. It would be nice knowing that someone was with you all the time, giving you good advice, making sure that you’re safe, and that you would be protected. Since I can see them, I would be able to talk to them. Ask them questions about everything; what their rules are, what happens when they break them, and so on. My list would be so big.

            Like a plane on autopilot, I noticed that I was almost done with the signs. Luckily there wasn’t that many to do as there was for the Christmas sale last year. That was horrible, but seeing Levy’s Guardian trying to calm her down and give her advice of how to stay warm while we were outside was really something else. Usually he doesn’t give her a lot of advice, but when she was stressed, she really needed it. I guess that’s the downside; they always get the advice before getting them from others.

            “They look great!” Levy smiled as she brought out a box with a manikin and clothes to promote the fall sale.

            “Thanks,” I smiled back as I put up the last sign. “I was on autopilot.”

            Levy pulled out an arm, but stopped and tilted her head. “Ok, what is going on through your mind?”

            This was always hard when it came to Levy and my family. If I lied, her Guardian knew, and he would tell her. It’s like they have lie detectors in them.

            “Stuff.” I answered. I quickly looked at her Guardian and I knew that it was a semi lie…surely he wouldn’t tell her?

            He leaned in her ear and whispered. Of course he would!

            “Come on, Skye! What is really going on through your mind?”

            I bit my lip and lowered my head. What was the consequence if I told people? Would they think I’m crazy like when someone says that they see ghosts? Or that they were once abducted by aliens? But most importantly, what would happen to the Guardian?

            “Personal things; questions hoping to get answered.” I knew that it was the truth, too. I didn’t have to tell them specifically, but I can sugar coat it without having it be a lie.

            Levy’s Guardian looked like he held back from telling her that it was a lie. A small triumphant smile formed my lips, but I quickly regained my posture as Levy nodded her head, putting together the manikin, a defeated sigh escaping her lips.

            “Look, I know what tomorrow is. Don’t think about it so much, ok?” Levy shot a small smile pulling out a top and putting it over the torso.

            “It’s not just that.” I said picking up the box that held the cling-ons. “I just want that day to be normal. Do you know what I hear from people? They say that I might actually die, that death will come be waiting for me.”

            “Well,” Levy sighed placing the clothed manikin in the empty window space, “just ignore them. I know words can hurt, but sometimes you just got to push through. I’m sure your mom and dad are looking down upon you being proud of where you are today. I mean look at you! You moved out of your aunt and uncle’s house now renting an apartment, you are heading off to college in two months, AND you have a job that pays pretty damn well!”

            Her Guardian sneered a bit whenever she swore, but it was kind of amusing to see how they reacted when their person swears.

            Levy always knew how to make me feel better.

            “Thanks Levy,” I smiled heading to the back with her.

            The rest of the night went painfully slow for us as we got everything done early. Usually during our last two hours before closing up took slow since we just sit and talk while keeping on the lookout for any customers.

            “I think I’m going to check the clothes again, see if they’re in size order.” I said, finally thinking of something to do.

            “Have fun! If you get lost, you know my number!” Levy laughed and waved as if I was going away for a long time.

            I started at the front of the store, and as slowly and carefully that I could; I started to sort through the first rack of clothing. Honestly, even if our clothes were expensive, I would buy from here all the time. One thing that Levy was right about, it was the money; it wasn’t that I couldn’t afford this, I just choose to save it for college. Rounding the corner of the rack, I took a look out at the empty sidewalk and the sun was starting to set off in the horizon, creating a beam of light on the road. People were starting to come for this Friday night; perhaps a drink at the bar, or celebrating graduation with a fancy dinner. At first I thought that everyone was just going about their night, but that’s when I noticed something odd.

            He was just standing there, not minding anyone else’s business. The brown haired boy, who looked around my age, was in an alley way across the street, between the small local Italian restaurant and the little hobby store. He wasn’t out in the open enough to be seen, but he wasn’t completely surrounded in darkness. At first I thought people just ignored him, but something in the pit of my stomach told me otherwise. Leaning against the restaurants brick walls, his arms were folded over each other. The stare that he held looked like he was mesmerized and, in some way, tough. The long sleeved shirt just barely went passed his hands, creating an airy look to it. Kind of…heavenly. I swallowed nervously as I noticed that he was actually looking right at me. Who was he? And why was he looking at me? I began to notice that his clothing, including his pants and boots were all pitch black; the color of night.

            I took a step back and then he started to move. That’s when I noticed that his long sleeve shirt wasn’t a shirt at all as I noticed the same piece of clothing flow behind him, like it was a thin robe. And underneath the robe was another piece of clothing which was black, but when he moved slightly, I could see little pieces of white glowing specs, like stars in a clear sky.

            “L-Levy…” I started to say as I saw him coming out of the alley way.

            And when he started to come out in the light, I started to see a big shadow behind him. My steps were starting to get more frantic when he was coming my way, his eyes still fixated on me.

            “Skye, what is it?” Levy asked running over to my side.

            The boy stopped his movements and tilted his head to the side, a bit of an annoyed look on his face. I took a small gasp as I saw the big shadow behind him become clearer as it became a very recognizable part. But they were in no way white and glowing.

            Attached to his back was a pair of folded black angel wings.