Dybbuk {23}

Lorelei lunged at him, her beautiful eyes having turned a shade darker and now housing a black slit dimmer than a starless night. They engulfed him with just one glance as he watched the pupil squeeze into such a monstrosity.

Acting on pure adrenaline, he squared up, swerving as best as he could to dodge with the jostle of the floor beneath him. He barely missed her fury-driven swipe, those beady eyes not once leaving his.

Jax shut out the sense of dread drawing from her eyes... his breathing escalated to almost the point of hyperventilation. It left him vulnerable, open to a sharp jab on his rib, knocking him off balance as she came throttling at a speed un-natural.

"You have no idea how valuable your soul is boy!" She sneered, commotion running free in the bus; people panicking, screaming, shouting with a shred of confidence easily snatched from their grasps at just one glare. "Touched by an angel!" she gushed, her body dead-set on pummelling his.

He couldn't move, grovelling through his bleeding lips as he took each hit.

To Jax's distaste, no one tried grabbing onto the crazed woman as she latched her hands and nails into his shoulders that yanked him with an unbridled strength toward the driver.

Jax cried out, the sharp sting piercing skin even through his clothes.

He felt weightless in the air, bracing for an impact that came all too quickly. Unsuspecting a wall so soon, he collided against the back of the driver's quarter; spine roaring in pain as he felt the light leave him.

Paralysis took control of his limbs, an aching, throbbing pain shooting through him spiralling from behind- one that halted any inhale of breath.

He could barely register a thing, eyes blurred, hearing nothing but a low whistle ringing in his ears.

How? The ebbing of anguish was flowing through his veins, so painful that he just lay lifeless on the floor; blood leaving his lips. Metallic in taste.

Screeching to a stop, the bus pulled over in a hurry, the rock of the bus causing Lorelei to hold onto the beams, scowling.

How? How?

The driver was uncertain in every sense of the word, having kept his eyes on the road the entire duration and unable to tear away from it. He was still, too frightened to open the compartment door with Lorelei lurking near it. In their eyes, she was just some lunatic attacking like a rabid dog.

But that wasn't the case. She was far worse.

Jax shivered at a newfound fear, stronger than he had ever felt in his life. He was terrified. And it was too silent- petrifyingly silent, like the world had ceased spinning.

He wasn't wrong. Past Lorelei's head, people once bursting ear drums with their yelling were frozen and held together by gravity; hair, clothes, all defying the natural law.

The time they lived in had paused; frozen. A stand-still. "What the-" the dybbuk breathed, eyes panning through the window, noticing the sudden stiffness out of the glass and all through the bus. She clearly wasn't effected.

The early morning frost climbing the windows had stopped, the howling of the wind- non-existent.

The world had gone silent with their mouths still open to scream; all that made sound were Jax and his staggered breaths, each muscle tug laborious. Blood puddled beneath his head, arms and legs weak with forming bruises.

She whipped her head around, "Well looks like we won't be alone for much longer… I wonder who will join us?" She jested, eyebrows scrunched and teeth growling.

She smiled that vicious smile, eyes digging into him with a sadistic look, "If you had only listened to me, it wouldn't have gone this way"

How? How? How?

So this was how he died…

It was almost comical.

Mustering any strength remaining, he bitterly spat through blood soaked teeth, "Wasn't I... supposed to be... precious?" he coughed, the action draining, "You can't damage the cargo..."

Lorelei rolled her inhuman eyes, nails dirtied with his blood, "You misunderstand dear boy..." she soothed, walking gently through the partition to another person still in stature. "Your soul is what is valuable- your body… well that's just a vessel to contain it isn't that right?"

He grimaced, his spine still throbbing un-imaginably. Were this to be his resting place?

Gently, in almost a caring way she dragged her finger down a man's face. It was cold, malicious, leaving a trail of dried blood where her finger had embracingly drawn a line. "I don't care what happens to you body, that can be broken to pieces for all I care" she mused, growing bored of the plain human providing no entertainment.

Scowling, she trotted over to him slowly, savouring the moment while her eyes feasted on something blind to him. Those devil eyes definitely could see something he couldn't.

Was he about to die?

Jax's arms waned, no words formulating for him even when resting his head. He released a sigh close to death, consciousness leaving him. Everything was so dark and heavy, the will to keep his eyes open on the brink of collapse, yet there was something enticing about it, something inviting- quicker than falling asleep.

He would surrender to it.

But something would not allow it, catching him before it could slip away into her fingertips…

An entity born from a spark materialised before Jax's very eyes, pulling him back to shore from that deep, fascinating world… and even dazed, winded, on deaths door… he knew what that figure was. It breathed a new life into him, a voice in his head that pulled him up, whispering, "I shall keep you safe, I shall keep you safe"

Lorelei backed away, "Shit… I thought I had more time!" Lorelei barked, body angled away from him.

She seemed panicked.

Without stepping any closer in comparison to her mad flurry of rage, she shielded her eyes and leant away.

The light grew, and to a creature of the divine it was instinctual that they knew what was before them.

An angel.

A god-dammed angel. He couldn't bloody believe it.

His angel… the one assigned to him by whoever ruled the overworld.

It sparked and flashed, raw and powerful. He was bewildered, head thrumming.

Soon, the light moulded and took shape; feathery wings purer than any sun emerged, stretching from a body draped in silk finer than the richest materials.

A face sculpted by the divine graced Lorelei's twisted eyes, the angel's fingers nimble and strong as they held out a hand of protest.

"You shall not harm this human, you are out of line dybbuk" she spoke clearly.

The dybbuk groaned, annoyance etching into her skin at the mention of what she was. "It's Lorelei you piece of shit, I have a dam name"

"No matter Dybbuk, you have violated the divine law" the angel continued, angering Lorelei to a new level.

"It's Lorelei!" She growled, "just because I was not intentionally created by the divine does not mean I don't deserve to be called by my name!" She spat, fists clenched. Against an angel… she was powerless.

The short hair swayed with the angel, "I have no intention of entertaining your thoughts, I have a duty to fulfil as a guardian-"

"-I call bullshit!" She swore, face reddening with rage, "Rumour has it, your great guardian fell months ago- you have no duty left, no honour, and most importantly… no protection"

Without hesitation, those dammed eyes flashed, her body crippling into a form forced by a swift hand. Her skin shattered into the air, collecting together. Through it, a female human who the sinner had invaded fell to the floor in a dream, but in its place stood a hovering cloud of darkness with two eyes shimmering. "His soul is precious to me- you wont stop me!"

Jax didn't have the capacity to hold onto his fear, squeezing his eyes shut. How could he believe any of this was reality and not some disturbed nightmare.

Even with Lorelei in her true form, she could not advance; an invisible wall cast by his angel keeping the distance between them- being the superior creature. It would not last long however, not with the sudden drain in power felt awhile ago by having their lead guardian banished... the source of their duty.

Blinking, the angel crouched to Jax, knowing this, her voice gentle, "Can you stand?"

His inability to answer spoke volumes.

The angel swallowed, "My name is Maia" her tone sweet, "Rest, help is on the way"

Through fogged sight, her features were stark enough to be painted onto a canvas; hazel eyes, beautifully carved nose and lips protruding a serene exterior while her bobbed auburn hair caressed her neck. She... she looked like...

She was glowing, beaming a smile at him while her draped attire fell on his arm- lighter than a feather.

Jax had to face away, his heart clenching. He swallowed the oncoming emotions, nearing toward the brink of tears with everything overwhelming him. He was not one to cry, but her face... they were so alike that the acid reflux up his throat from it stung at the swallow.

It wasn't her. It was not her. He kept reciting it until he believed it.

The creature lurking hissed, "For a being without the capability of emotion, you certainly show signs of fear"

"I do not fear what cannot hurt me" Maia retorted, the jostle of a locket around her neck catching the dybbuk's eye.

She smirked, "I see what's going on here"

"And what would that be?" Maia raised a protective hand behind her, the wings shielding Jax from sightlines. Her face read determination alongside the metal locket that was held by a chain dangling in the throes of the still sun.

Its centrepiece was a silver box that could be opened by a pinch of a finger; engraved in columns down it was writing smaller than a pen's tip. It littered the locket and entirely covered each side, no metal remained un-touched.

What a strange piece...

"That thing around your neck..." the dybbuk growled, the smoke flaring at their words, "How many souls does it contain?"