• Kevin opened his eyes once more. This time, Jane was nowhere to be seen. He sat up and took notice in the back of his mind that he was in Jane’s bed. He stood slowly, wincing with every muscle he used. He felt dirty and stiff. Once he was actually on his feet, the world spun around him. He ended up falling onto the bed again. He closed his eyes. Damn, that hurt. Once he opened his eyes again, he attempted to stand once more. He wobbled for a bit. As he was about to fall, he caught himself on the wall. He felt so heavy… There was so much weight on his legs… He let a gasp escape as pain shot up from his leg. He couldn’t look down at it for fear of losing his balance and falling again.
    “Kevin?” he heard as a door opened and shut. He called out, “In here, Jane!” After listening to light footsteps and some things drop, Kevin’s eyes at last landed on Jane. It felt like a relief almost. She smiled at him. She could see he looked better than before, even if it was really dark in her room. She asked quietly, “Could I turn on the light?”
    “No,” Kevin snapped, eyes wide. Jane nodded, “I understand.” He sighed and nodded, leaning his head back against the wall. Jane hesitated, “Shouldn’t you be lying down?” He sighed, seeing that there was no point in arguing. Besides, lying down didn’t seem too bad. He wasn’t even sure why he stood up in the first place. So he lay back down on her bed with a huff. Jane sat next to him for a minute.
    “So,” she began, “What the hell happened back there?” Kevin was silent for a minute, his eyes closed once again. Right before Jane was about to say more, Kevin opened his mouth, “Are you sure you want to know? To understand the world around, within, and co-existing with your own? Do you really want to be involved? Once I explain this, there’s no going back. I’m not sure I could protect you from the harm that could befall you. Do you want to live in fear for your entire life?” Jane hesitated. She didn’t like the way he was saying it, but she was just so curious and… Well, she didn’t want him to go on without her. It seemed too much like finding out your friend was going to get jumped after school and not telling them. She nodded, “Yes, I want that… if it means you aren’t alone in dealing with this. After all, if it’s as bad as you say it is, you shouldn’t be all by yourself.” Kevin snorted, “I’ve got friends. I have friends just as capable as I.”
    “I still want to know,” she whispered into the darkness. Silence. “Kevin?” Jane whispered. Nothing but silence followed. She stood up. The silence was becoming eerie. She whispered his name again. Silence. It was beginning to drive her crazy. Somehow, the light became even dimmer. Her heart raced. What was going on?
    “Is that how you want to feel every time I leave the same room?” Kevin asked quietly, the feeling leaving the room and the light coming back. Jane answered quietly, “Yes.” Kevin sighed, “Fine then. What you saw, I’m sure you know, was a vampire. That was one of the more… feeble ones. So if you look at what happened… Well, let’s just say I can’t protect myself very well. Vampires and Fallen Angles are like the seasons. You’ve got droughts and ice ages, but for the most part coincide like summer and winter. We can never be rid of each other. We, Fallen Angels, are not only guardian angels, but we are also defenders of human kind. We fight off supernatural predators. Vampires are our main out of a very few concerns. I have a connection to all of the vampires. I suppose I was the cause of an ice age, and I almost started a drought.” Jane studied what she could see of his expression, “What do you mean?” He sighed, “You want to know what I mean. I mean I was a critical enemy to the vampires as an angel, but even angels have the chance of turning bad. I blew a fatal blow to my enemies. I almost made a deal that would undo everything I did and hurt my side even more. That’s why my wings were clipped. They offered me things I could never imagine having. I know I was an angel, but they were vampires. We both have strengths and weaknesses. Somehow they knew mine. They were going to change me into a vampire. I almost did it too. When I refused at the last second, I knew I was going to be in trouble. I had to clip my own wings.”
    “You mean you cut off your own physical wings?!” Jane whispered in surprise. Kevin nodded, “Yes.” She shook her head, “That sounds so cruel for angels.” Kevin snorted, “It hurt, yes, but it wasn’t the cruelest punishment. I’ve heard much worse punishments.”
    “Like?” Jane prompted. Kevin smirked, “Being thrown into The Abyss. Do you want to hear about vampires or not?” She smiled for a second, “Just go along with it.” Kevin sighed. She asked, “What kind of society is up there?” Kevin chuckled, “Sorry, I can’t tell you that. I mean, I physically can’t tell you. Besides, my memories of it are all screwed up.”
    “What kind of friends do you have?” Jane asked. He sighed, “They’re cool. I don’t know what you want me to say, so I’ll just say I have a wide range of friends.” Jane huffed. She wanted real answers, “Are there any other predators?” Quiet, but not quite silence. He answered quietly, “Yes. There are a few. Two to be exact, but werewolves are nearly extinct, so let’s say one. The only other threats to humans are your basic demons.” Jane looked down. Demons? Werewolves? She didn’t care about them. Kevin didn’t seem to either. So instead of going with the change in direction, she went back to dig up more on vampires. “It would seem you know some of the vampires, maybe even personally. I mean, that one called you by your first name.” Kevin sighed, “Yes. I do know some of them personally.” Just then, a phone rang across the room. Jane groaned and muttered, “If that’s Kelly again, I’m going to kill her.” She walked across the room and picked the phone up, “Hello?” Kevin watched her face show clear surprise, but heard her voice saying in a confused tone, “I’m sorry, who is this?” Kevin chuckled and held out his hand for the phone. Hesitantly, she handed him the phone mouthing the name “Jesse.” Kevin rolled his eyes and put his ear to the phone, “Hey… Yeah… No… Wait a sec- … I can… I was excused… Can we talk about this later?... Because, I don’t want her to know everything!... Yeah, I suppose… Why?... Fine. Yeah. Be that way… No, don’t. I’ll come… Okay.” He clicked the end button and handed the phone back to Jane. She hung it up, “Was that one of your friends?” Kevin nodded silently. “Can you get up to meet them?” Kevin nodded, “You need to come with me. They’ll be here in three… two…” There was a loud knock at the door. Jane hesitated, “How do they know my number and where I live?” Kevin gave her a hard look, “We know how to contact everyone and we know where everyone lives.” He stood, and for a second he was about to fall. Jane stood, but he caught his balance and began staggering to the door, muttering to himself. Jane walked beside him, ready to catch him if he fell. She knew she wouldn’t be any help in terms of carrying some of his weight on her shoulder.
    Kevin opened the door and smiled at the waiting people. There were two people. The one that knocked was a peppy-looking girl. She had red-orange hair and a bright smile. Her nose was perfectly upturned and her cheeks still had baby fat. Her eyes were a stormy gray. She didn’t wear anything special; blue jeans, white t-shirt, white and worn sneakers. She immediately jumped on top of Kevin, squeezing the life out of him with her hug. He almost collapsed when she did so, but he stayed standing. He chuckled breathlessly, “Anne.” The man behind her seemed happy enough. He had messy dark hair and a very noticeable and permanent tan. He was tall and he had a thin, crooked smile. He was clean-shaven and had plain brown eyes. He just watched the scene and took note of every move Jane made and every emotion on her face, just as she was doing to them.
    Kevin looked up at the man, “Owen.” The man nodded, “Kevin.” Kevin grinned, “Yeah.” Owen nodded. Silent communication went through them. Were these Kevin’s friends?