The escape

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In the darkness of the shadows, where we hid, the angel boys warm arms felt like a little touch of heaven against my frigid wet body. I could tell he was listening for anything that may be able to cause harm to either of us, but all I could focus on was his chest rising and falling against my back. As I forced my eyes to scan the trees, his eyes were constantly moving following any source of movement. I felt every minuscule in his body tense behind me, I said nothing knowing he would hush me before I could get to the point of my question. His hand dropped from my mouth gaining confidence in my silence. He moved from behind me only to push me behind him. In that moment everything seemed to go motionless. The stillness of the air seemed to suck even the sound of my breaths into the nothingness of the forest. Even the trees seemed to fall flat of a rustle as if they were tense with nerves for what was to come.

"Elizabeth! Watch out!"

His warning is too late, though, and it's all my fault. I should have stayed directly behind him where he safely placed me. Instead my feet slowly backed up on their own accord and now an iron grip hand has taken ahold of my shoulder. I'm blindly yanked backwards on my stumbling feet into my captor's chest.

"Now, Lizzy, why did you have to go and try to run away?"

Corey.

"And why'd you have to be so bad at it? For the love of satan, you really are making this difficult for me."

"You'd think running for your life would motivate a girl...," he says exasperatedly before our attention is drawn to a movement amongst the trees. Quietly he whispers in my ear, "Okay. This is your final get out of jail card... You're going to hook your left foot behind my right one and trip me, okay? And make it believable." Confusion washed over my face as his grip loosens and he gives a hard shove on my back, pushing me forward, just as a man is making his way through the trees, searching for me. As he approaches, I take off once more in a  panic stricken state with Corey on my heels. His right foot should have extended to take his weight, but instead it's caught on my foot. He hits the dirt sending a plume of dry mud skyward. His groan is good enough for me to assume he wasn't coming after me again... for now. And why he let me go is beyond me, but I don't question it too much as I have no time to. The new one is hot on my heels.

The next thing I know, the man that had emerged from the trees is almost a foot away from me. He is chasing me with his hands outstretched hoping to snag an article of my clothing or anything he can get his grubby hands on. I don't know where I'm going, but I run, away from him. I don't look back but I can hear the heavy footsteps right behind me, gaining speed. I am not a slow runner, but compared to him, I am slow enough. I'm dodging trees and low branches, almost close to stumbling over every obstacle I come across. A couple of low hanging branches scratch at me, seeming to work against me.  He grabs hold of my shoulder. But I shove it away with a strong shrug. No, I shrug him away with all the strength my adrenaline could muster up, and he drops to the ground, face first. I stop for a second and then start to run again. But I can hear the man pulling himself up with an angry grunt. I know he lost momentum, so I turn around again to stand my ground and do my best to pin him to the very dirt I think he is. At first he tries to move but then he stops. I see the amusement in his eyes, maybe that's the way someone looks when they have evil in their souls. He's mocking me, and I growl in frustration. Nothing irked me worse than being belittled. He is bleeding thick black blood from a wound above his eyebrow, and one on his cheek right under the eye: I internally smile at that. I gave as much as I took. He fell face first on the ground covered by broken twigs and pine straw. I let go of him, unsettled at his unaffected state. 

"Do your worst," he laughs cynically, getting up on his feet. His words make me feel silly and weak and I want nothing more than to run away from the spot where I stood. Again. And there's no way he would let me do that. So I try to knock him away from me again. He sees it coming this time, though, and he throws me to the ground with his knees straddling my side of my torso keeping my hands still. My breathing, already labored, is extremely more difficult with his dead weight on top of me.
"That's a good girl." His breath reeks of death and his tone of voice is amused. He thinks he has won because I have momentarily stopped struggling beneath him. He is wrong. For the time being with his upper hand, I will not waste my energy. I will wait when he least expects it. It's my only chance. With the angel boy far behind dealing with the others, he will never make it in time. I have never needed or depended on a boy to save me before, and I will be damned if I start now. I was raised to hold my own, and I'm thankful for that. I also learned it's not always about brute strength: where that fails, brains comes in handy.

"We're kindred spirits you and - "
"I am NOTHING like you!"  I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince. Me or him. Although I know this is real life, they have to have the wrong girl! They have to!
"That's where you're wrong. You don't even know the power you contain, the potential you have. Oh, the devastation you will cause. To the angels, human alike. You will be their ruin. With the rise of a holy name bred evil,  He will also rise."  My mind is reeling, and I hate that he sees my doubt.
"Connecting any dots, Oh holy Elizabeth?But isn't it just  Liz, now?"  I spit in his face to convey to him how I felt about his delusional thoughts.
"You will pay for th- you know what? The boss demanded to bring you back alive... He never specified in what state." His laughter was a roar.
"You're a monster!" I can't help but to struggle underneath him once again. From behind him he produces a knife. A medieval, sharp and lethal knife: what appears to be old blood staining the once pristine handle. I try to bear down further on the ground as the blade hovers over my neck. I know it's of no use, but still my body tries to bury itself before it's met with the blade. He begins to cut: deeper than he needs to, to make a point. My blood is now a notch on the stained handle. As the blade dug into my flesh I let out the loudest most piercing scream I had ever allowed myself to release. It sounded like a scream of wild panic. A scream of hysteria and disbelief, bordering on terror. I can't die like this!
"No," wickedly, he smiles "I'm much worse. I'm a demon." demon.  It's when I'm wriggling wildly beneath him that I feel a rock just out of grasp against my hand: a small blessing, but I'll take it. Although his statement was bold and confirmed my worst fears, it all makes sense. Angels. Demons. What didn't make sense was me. How did my mom play into all of this? How did I?
"A demon with a headache." I slam the rock I was finally able to discreetly reach into his temple. It's enough to knock him off of me. Slowly I tried to get up but quickly realized how futile it was when I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out. Sharp pain laced through my neck up to the back of my head and colorful spots flashed in front of my eyes, it felt like my whole body had been beaten and every movement caused some muscle or bone to ache. I cover my throat with my hand keep pressure to stop the blood, which seemed to be pouring out of my veins  in means to escape. It was in sync with each strong throb of my heart. I used my other hand to help guide my body to meet unstable feet and once I'm on both of them, I don't stick around long, but long enough to hear a muttered "you bitch" when I look back I see the distance grow bigger between me and the man on the ground struggling to get up. And soon the trees swallow me up, this time hopefully for good.

I ran until there was a sting in my legs, I hadn't heard anything in awhile, so I momentarily stopped running. I placed my hand on my knees begging my lungs for air. I thought I was finally safe, but a rustle in the leaves behind me crushed that dream. They just don't give up. Without thinking I was back to sprinting. I was still looking down when I slammed straight into someone. I feel my ribs heaving as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate my lungs. My head's a carousel of fears spinning out of control, each one pushing my mind into blackness. I want to run; I need to freeze. Sounds that were near feel far away, like I'm no longer in the body that stands surrounded in an abyss of trees.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, you're okay" the angel boy cooed in my ear trying to calm me. Relief flooded through my system. His gentleness is immediately replaced with concern once he brings away his bloodied hand. For the most part the wound on my neck has dried, and once I'm looking at it I feel the sting it leaves.
"You're hurt."  I've had worse, much worse. His concern for me, however, throws me for a loop. I deflect.
"You should see the other guy."
"This isn't time for joking. Why in the hell are you at the top of the prince's most wanted list in the first place?" Wow his two seconds of concern for my well-being was nice.
"Prince? I have no idea what yo-!"
"Oh! Spare me the feigned innocence, human. You aren't fooling anyone."
We are in a stare down. His takes my silence as a confession. I have no intention of waving a white flag, yet. I know next to nothing about what they are, what he is. And apparently I know less than that about myself. I don't know what stops me from spilling what the demon that tackled me prophesied. Well that's wrong, I do know. 1) I don't know all the facts, 2) I don't know who to trust (apparently not even myself) and 3) who the hell does he think he is looking at me like that and 4) oh my god demons and angels are more than just biblical tales!

"One thing is for sure, you're not leaving my side until I figure out why the prince of hell wants you so badly." I don't fight his terms, but I know that we're not going to get along while doing them. "What's your name?" I squint my eyes at him. He walks closer to me his chest nearly against mine, he looks down and with annoyance laced in his voice he says one word, "Colby."
"Okay Colby" I say mockingly. "Well I have some terms of my own. Firstly, what are you?! And secondly, where will 'your side' be taking me."  From the look on his perfectly sculpted face, he doesn't appreciate my sarcasm. Well, good.

"Are you that dense?" he deadpans. I immediately want to facepalm myself. We begin walking through the forest, making our way to a destination to which I was unsure of.

"Well if you're an angel why didn't you kill them all when you first walked in?"

"You humans... You all crave absolutes. It isn't," he stops for a moment and shakes his head before walking again, "it isn't always set in black and white."  I ponder his words and also the direction of where we are headed. He doesn't seem worried about the demons catching up to  us, so I let my guard down too. Only a little. With our slow pace, I'm able to feel the impact of our marathon, physically and emotionally. I haven't had a proper sleep in weeks. Can't he just fly us out of here?
"What are you laughing at?" he spits.
I'm about to say nothing when I see a shadow of wings pass over us. Colby notices as I visibly tense. He's smirking when I look at him though, there is no alert in his features as he follows the shadow, same as me.

A boy with delicate blonde hairs which fell onto his brow landed straight in front of us. His skin was so pale it rendered him stark against the dark brown bark of the trees. His wings were an expansive brilliant white completely different compared to Colby's wings. Colby's were a stark raven black and powerful. The new boy's was more....peaceful. They seemed to radiate the forest surrounding us. I could faintly make out a glowing from them before he tucked them behind his back, and they were no longer visible to me quite like how Colby does it. He was angelic, yet his bright blue eyes bore a hard expression, a warning to the devil beneath.
"Really, Colby? That was all quite ... Unnecessary, wouldn't you say?"
"On the contrary, brother, I would say it was completely necessary. And fun. You should try it sometime. "
"The council is already sitting on pins and needles where you're concerned, and there's only so much I can say before they bench you for good," seemingly finally aware of my meak presence he eyes me , " who's she?" I hate being talked to like I'm not here. Still, I immediately categorize him as nicer of the pair. Colby, who is standing beside me, grows tense as soon as the council was mentioned. An awkward amount of time has passed that I spent looking between the two, wondering if I was supposed to answer or if he was asking Colby. Then I think, what the hell, I don't care who it's directed to, it's about me an-
"My name is-" right when I'm about to boldly state my name after my short, although empowering monologue, Colby interrupts, and I have a feeling he does that a lot. To everyone.
"Elizabeth," he glares at me, "her name is Elizabeth." No emotion. No anything.

"Liz." I hiss at Colby. I swear I hear a deep growl come from him.
Seeming annoyed with our conversation Sam mutters something along the lines of Jesus Christ. I can't help but to stop bickering with Colby which drives him furious at that. I look at Sam funnily and unsure what has overcame me, but I die laughing. My maniac laughter probably stems from sleep deprivation among other things that has become my traumatizing life. Now they're both dumbfounded and quite unsure what to do with me. It almost makes me laugh harder. They're all powerful entities and they look at me in apprehension as the tears stream down my face. It's just all so funny really.
Finally able to shake themselves out of whatever has overtaken them with their fascination with my outburst, "well," Sam clears his throat, "what do we do with her?" That begins a whole other argument between the two. My laughter dies out, and I grow mad.  My emotions all over the place, and it's understandable.
"Shouldn't I have a say in what happens to me?!"
I'm cut silence with their hard glares and a hard no. At least that's something they can agree on.

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