Intervention {22}

He went silent.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lev asked, his shoulders slack.

Skye threw a look, obvious embarrassment and another emotion he couldn't quite read creeping on her face, "Take what you will" she sighed, "all you need to know is that Jax is sat next to someone on that bus that is potentially dangerous, and I need your help to understand what he said-"

Lev rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Is this some sort of joke, 'potentially dangerous'? How are you supposed to justify that?"

Annoyance? Frustration? Lev didn't know what was writhing inside of him, too confused by the panic Skye was setting. It all sounded ridiculous, laughable even.

"Justify?" Skye breathed.

Was he pushing her buttons? What was he playing at?

Lev winced at how he had sounded so harsh, but he couldn't fathom what was coming out of her mouth- it was all too strange to be normal, too shocking to be true and too tiring to not be down right crazy. Yet when he looked down upon her from a few inches taller… and stepped closer within the presence of personal space… he saw and felt the reason why he had been so drawn as to blindly walk up to Skye in the first place- she was familiar… and he hadn't the faintest clue as to how.

That hair, those eyes, there was something his mind wanted him to remember but it was tangled.

Skye held his gaze, stunned by the arrogance. She knew all humans had a side like that but it was worse to be on the receiving end of it. She spoke clearly, "If a friend is in danger, do you really want to wait around to get a justification? Or act, knowing you could save their life?"

"But how do you know that without proving it? Sometimes acting on a whim could you put that person in more harm could it not?"

She hadn't considered that.

His face was unreadable, hands clenched around the phone. What was he thinking? Skye was never good at understanding people, nor hidden agendas… "Do you seriously think I would go to this extent if this was a joke Lev?" She stepped forward, holding her head high, "Do you think that low of me?"

"No… I don't"

They were nail-bitingly close, her smell wafting around him.

"…I don't believe that for a second"

This went a way Lev did not expect. The sense of familiarity she once emanated was strained, as if being pulled from existence. He could not move, nor break the stare toward her eyes housing an enigmatic well of emotions. She was hiding something.

Makes two of them.

After moments of time ticking by and the wind drizzling into his ear, he had to fill the unbearable silence suffocating them both, "I just think it's a little far fetched"

"What?" Gobsmacked, she asked angrily, mouth frowning, "Don't you trust me Lev?"

Lev bit his lip. He had only known her for two days, one of them a complete haze.

Skye on the other hand retreated a few steps by her question, dread sinking in.

She did not want the answer to that, wishing she could take it back because she already knew with his hesitance… the answer was conveyed for him. It set lead in her stomach, making her riddled with disappointment. Not in Lev, but herself.

"It's not that I don't trust you" he began, lips chapped, "it's just that nothing makes sense"

Skye didn't budge, her lips sealed tight.

"If you don't tell me something so simple, how am I to trust you!?"

He didn't realise his voice was raised, earning a few looks from bygone people conversing the pavements.

She was loosing her mind, the strength over it waining; mixed with other rising emotions she thought had been pressed within. Skye was running on only a few hours of sleep, her mind ablaze by loosing one of her sisters and almost getting Lev killed.

She couldn't control what she spoke, "Do you really want to know Lev? Hm… do you!!?"

She drummed, suddenly feeling the heat through her scars- where her wings SHOULD be, "Fine by me, but don't come crying to me when everything goes to shit-"

Her eyes beamed wide before she could finish as a dark hand swept over Lev's head, his body following the motion and falling limp.

It was so similar, the sudden breeze of cold- concealment, and the friendly face behind Lev's droopy one.

Evangeline.

Doused in divine silk, her expression told Skye all she needed to know. Her pained eyes sunk into her, Lev's weight held strong in support by the wings behind her, resting.

"Evangeline… I-"

"Were you about to tell him about us?"

Her voice was droning, the feather swaying.

"Skye…" her arms tensed, "tell me you were not just about to expose us…"

"I…"

She really was… and it had just dawned on her.

Staggering back, Skye clutched her head, a lightheadedness emerging. She caught Evangeline's stare, "What are you…"

Her body grew bitter, a cold sweat appearing so fast… "No-"

Consciousness was leaving her rapidly, limbs strikingly heavy…

She collapsed, her stomach roiling with a sickness as a power cast from the solemn angel was attempting to put her into a slumber.

Skye fought against the shaking, the instinct to just succumb to the darkness and shut her eyelids; but it was too much, her weakened state at mercy to the power of another. Yet before giving in, although blurry, she could just about make out Lev's face and called softly, "Don't… leave m-"

Her descent to the ground was controlled, another angel appearing behind to cradle her.

Evangeline winced at the form of someone so vulnerable; hair swept, lips parted, but what caught the breath in her throat was the fact that a single tear had slipped through her closed eyes… trickling down the fallen's cheek to the soft hands she rest upon.

It was unbearable, she was a danger to herself.

"I'm sorry Skye…"

Looking at her paling face, Evangeline muttered, "It's for your own good, I will fix this, I promise you"

The angel holding her did not speak a word.

-

Jax hesitated, his worries echoing from the face that tried so hard to conceal them.

The irony-

He had tried to reach the button again only moments ago- and like before, he was unsuccessful. That time however, Lorelei had been quite forward in her actions, increasing the heartbeat that ran rancid in his chest.

Perhaps not knowing what danger she held toward him was worse… should he react and yell at her? Or stay quiet and wait it out?

The bus' rumble awoke him from his thoughts, the cushioned seat becoming unbearably warm as the distant sun beamed through the window. He was thankful for the heating on the bus, the outside shrivelling in coldness in comparison.

Gently, he laid his head to it, breathing out the forming stress and watching the forming of fog on the pane instead. He just wanted to get to class, was it so much to ask?

"Jax?"

Apparently it was.

"Yes?" He replied swiftly, head lifting from the glass now smoggy with condensation.

Lorelei eyed him curiously, her having been the one to call his name. "Have you ever met someone who you thought was not… how should I put this… normal?"

Yes, and he was sitting right next to them-

He shook his head, dazed by such a question, but still acted polite. "I'm not too sure, what do you mean… specifically?"

This just kept getting weirder…

Scratching her head in thought, she faced him once more, an eager smile setting him on edge. "Like… someone who randomly showed up in your life and… ever since meeting them weird things have happened… does that narrow it down?"

What the hell?

"Well no- not that I'm aware of" he rushed.

She raised a brow knowingly, "No? Are you sure? These 'weird' things could be a multitude of things you know"

No- he did not.

She continued, her expression like that of a teacher educating a student… it was un-nerving.

"It could include memory loss, almost like not remembering an incident and instead having a foggy memory…"

Jax would not give her the time of day, too startled to process any words. Still she continued, her hands resting on her lap, "of course that's the main one, but there are others such as they are always acting suspicious and sometimes even have disappearances linked to them"

"What on earth are you taking about you crazy bitch" he retorted, regretting it immediately by her growl so low he could see her throat rumble.

Correcting himself, he spoke fast, "Sorry- my bad, I'm just tired and it slipped- please forgive me for being so rude"

Jax gulped, clutching the window seal from a rather large bump in the road- it did not help him think straight.

Her beady eyes remained pinned on him even with the jagged motion, as if she could see something glowing inside his eyes that he couldn't.

He wanted to move past the awkward encounter… head ticking away on her words.

"Well.. about the question… I'm not sure really, my life has been quite normal"

Up until this point that is.

"Why do you ask?" He uttered.

Grinning like a child, she mouthed something that he missed; moving inconspicuously toward him.

He leant back in response but she clearly didn't care for personal space, so, Jax instantly squeezed backwards until his body was compressed into the crevices of the window seat. It wasn't far enough for she leant right over him, calm and composed compared to the shocked wreck squirming beneath her.

She was inches from him, her lips angled toward his ear. From here he could spot every pore, see each breath…

What was happening?

"I had only wondered seeing as your soul is a little different to other humans… it's definitely different- tampered almost…" she paused, inhaling his scent in a manor that sent chills through his spine, "And if I'm correct, it's most definitely by a divine entity… an angel maybe?"

Jax froze, stuttering out the words, "Pardon?"

"An angel… you must have come into contact with an angel- of all creatures to be fortunate to meet!-"

She smiled, a hand slowly going to hover over his neck-

He'd had enough.

Slapping her hand away, he shoved Lorelei off him, sending her into the partition running down the bus. It happened so fast- the rush of adrenaline fuelling his thoughts, his instincts to protect himself.

Before he could plan what to do next, she was up on her feet instantly, no bruise or scratch in sight.

"Why- you!!" She screeched, her voice suddenly sounding not so human like. It was distorted, creaky.

Screw waiting for backup- he was getting off this bus even if he had to jump.